The Legends Still Live On
by der Jagdexperte
Summary: The Arts of Warfare aren't just about the fights. It's also about everyone that participates in them, including what they do every day outside of combat. What happens when the Panzerkraft girls are let loose in their everyday lives? Very interesting things. What about if the Jägermeistern guys are included as well? Get ready for a lot of tomfoolery. Part of Projekt Jägermeistern.
1. Kapitel 1,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Ein: Unternehmen Mehr Liebe Liebe!_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: McBraun Clothes Repair_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Hello everyone! I'm Nathan McBraun, a sophomore of Ooarai High School! Now that I've got your attention, I'll be explaining this story a bit before we jump into it!

First off, there will be no sex scenes, so those looking forward to seeing _Bubi's_ and Miho's sex life, you're out of luck!

Second, there will be less combat here, as well!

And now, we begin with...

 _Anton:_ The way for the popular!

 _Erich:_ A fun life!

 _David:_ Sleeping until graduation...

 _Herz:_ The way of the avant-garde heart.

 _Nathan:_ Everyone's fun life in the Arts of Warfare! Wait, what are you doing setting that apple on Anton's head, Herz? And what's with the bow?

 _Aprikose:_ Let's begin.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

In his apartment that he shared with Miho, Erich was taking a good look at the back of his jacket he had taken off for the moment. He was otherwise in his normal school outfit. He noticed there was some good scuffing on the jacket.

"Yeesh, that doesn't look good," he noted. "I should definitely get this fixed. But where?" He then entered thought for a bit until he lit up. "Oh, right! Nathan's family owns a clothes repair shop. I should go there!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Later as Erich approached the McBraun Clothes Repair shop, the doors ceremoniously swung open. It was revealed that Nathan was who performed the action.

"Well, if it isn't _Bubi!_ " he greeted. "Welcome! Come on in, eh!"

Erich followed him in as the doors shut. "What, is Nathan a clerk here on his off time?" he wondered to himself.

"So, what can I do you for?" Nathan asked as he came to a stop and turned to Erich.

Erich took off his jacket as he began to explain, "I just need this fixed up a bit. It's starting to look worse for wear."

"Ah, well no problem! Oh, you want anything extra to be done to it? Like any other patches or stitchings or something like that?"

Erich thought for a bit, but he then waved off. "Eh, alright. Surprise me."

"Oh! Well you won't be disappointed, _Bubi!_ " Nathan then energetically ran off with the jacket to fix it up.

Erich in the meantime chose to take a look around the place, and he noticed a selection sheet on one of the walls. It had several patches and stitching options related to aviation. "Well, I guess that kind of figures he would be like that."

He then continued looking around again, and he found some other people there.

"Oh? Herz?" he wondered upon seeing him. "What are you doing here?"

Herz was evidently there, too, and he looked over to Erich to respond, "I was just getting my jacket fixed up." Herz had brought his own unique _Jägermeistern_ jacket to get patched up. It was patched up, but it now also had some of the _Luftwaffe's Balkenkreuzen_ patched onto each shoulder plus an image of a Fiat CR.42 stitched into the back.

"I guess there's no stopping Nathan with that stuff," Erich figured after seeing the aviation-inspired work. He looked around again, and he now managed to discover Anton there as well.

"This actually seems pretty decent," he commented as he inspected his own _Jägermeistern_ jacket. Nathan apparently did his work to it as well. It now had knife patches on each shoulder and a Lockheed P-80 stitched into the back.

"Huh, Anton too," Erich remarked. "Yeah, Nathan's gonna go overboard, it seems."

"It's done!" Nathan proclaimed as he came back to the main lobby with Erich's jacket in hand. "What do you think, eh?"

Erich took his jacket and inspected it. It was fixed up, but as he predicted, there were some modifications done to it, as well. Nathan had put on white patches with black tulips within them to the shoulders. Erich then turned the jacket around and found another large emblem stitched into the back It was that of a white arrow pierced through a red heart that was dripping some red drops. Also below was the word ' _Karaya_ ' that was stitched in.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Erich was seen walking out of the shop with a satisfied look. He had kept the modifications Nathan made to the jacket, for the time being.

' _I guess it wouldn't hurt to have these things here for now to give Nathan some appreciation, but I'm getting this back to the way it was later,_ ' he thought.

Mesut and Erik had also come by the place, and Nathan was currently with them.

"Here, have some coupons!" he offered some coupons to the two freshmen. "It'll make it cheaper for you to become the leaders of fashion!"

" _Was?_ " Mesut could only react in confusion.

"What do we do?" Erik wondered. He was at a loss as to what to do about the offer.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Erich got back to his and Miho's apartment, but he was welcomed with an unusual sight.

What he had seen was Miho sitting on the bed, but she had evidently gone to Yukari's place to get a haircut. Her hair was styled into one of Yukari's _Panzerhaarschnitt,_ and she looked a bit mesmerized at simply having the style.

Erich didn't speak for a minute, mainly because he had no words for the sight. He simply had an eyebrow raised in confusion. Several seconds later, he finally spoke up, "How are things going for you today, _Miholein?_ "

Miho snapped out of her mesmerized state and turned to Erich in surprise. She blushed deeply as she immediately turned away and buried her head into the blankets. "Don't look at me!" she was heard crying out through the blankets.

Erich just rolled his eyes at her reaction. "I'll never understand you girls and your senses of fashion," he muttered quietly enough so Miho wouldn't hear.

He then approached her and sat beside her as she lied on the bed. He then ran his hand along her back gently as he caressed her. "I hope you know that I really couldn't care less about your appearance, because you look great to me anyway, regardless of whatever fashion trends may be going around," he gently spoke.

Miho sat up and turned to Erich at hearing his words. "Really?" she shyly asked still with her blush.

Erich smiled and slung an arm around her. "Yes, really." He then grew a playful smirk. "Now, that 'cannon' there wouldn't happen to be loaded, would it?"

Miho smacked him in response before she looked away with a flustered expression. "I wish it was now so I could shoot you for that."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_ Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas. _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	2. Kapitel 1,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Ein: Unternehmen Mehr Liebe Liebe!_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Das Problem eines Mädchens_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Upon getting out of the shower in the morning, Saori had hesitantly headed for her scale in her bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.

"Scales..." Saori shuddered at the thought. "I've been eating too much when I'm around the others, _Bubi_ especially..."

She then stepped on the scale and nervously awaited its reading. She then got the reading, but she grew a great amount of surprise from it.

"What?! 'This is light for two people?!'" Saori then entered despair after she interpreted the meaning. "No way! This can't be!"

Outside of her bathroom, Erich was listening in to Saori within his normal clothes. He was by now snickering very hard, almost as if holding back a huge amount of laughter.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that day, Saori was with the rest of her friends along with the five boys of _Messer_ Team. Everyone was in their normal school clothes.

"Hmph!" Saori huffed as she held a small box of food. Hana and Mako were beside her. "Well, jeez! I don't know an 'Erich!'"

Erich chuckled a bit from his place alongside Miho. "All right, then," he responded.

"But I have to say," Hana began as she started feeling Saori's arm. "The results of eating extra are appearing in the right places."

"Stop that!" Saori demanded with an expression that mixed being flustered and being mad together.

"A healthy body is indispensable for _Panzerkraft._ "

"But I'm the radio operator!"

"I'm in favor of the results here," Mako commented as she felt Saori's leg. Saori grew more flustered at the contact.

"Miho, save me!" Saori begged as Hana and Mako started leaning up against her.

Miho just looked on awkwardly for a bit before she leaned close to Erich. "Please tell me you're going to return her scale to normal soon," she whispered.

Erich snorted a bit before he responded, "I'll get to it later, but this is just so much fun to watch."

XXXXXXXXXX

Over the next few days, Saori had been continuing on trying to watch her weight.

" _Guten Appetit!_ " Erich spoke up before he dug into his massive meal. It was mostly made up of potato-derived dishes, but there were other things there depending on Erich's tastes at the moment. The other guys and girls of his group of friends were there as well.

' _I have to pay close attention to my portions when eating with Bubi and the others!_ ' Saori thought determinedly as she looked on at Erich absolutely obliterating his meal. ' _I can't be drawn in! I have to moderate myself!_ '

For two of their meals as a group, Saori had been closely watching Erich's eating as she monitored her own in relation to his. Erich's servings were usually at least five times those of Saori's, and they all included a large amount of potato-based foods mixed in with whatever else he felt like having at the time.

But for the next three meals the group ate, Saori had gotten careless with her monitoring. She had started taking on increasingly larger portions until Erich's were only about three times larger than hers by the third meal.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later in her apartment one night, Saori was on her bathroom scale again wrapped in her towel. She was crouched on the scale as she remained on her toes waiting for the reading, literally. Eventually, she got her reading.

"The scale increased!" she grunted out in a bit of a shriek.

Outside her bathroom, Erich was snickering heavily again as he listened to Saori's plight.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Saori was with everyone in the group for the moment.

"Yukari's the type who doesn't get fat no matter how much she eats!" Saori noted in frustration. "No fair!"

"Nah, I'm a maniac, so I only eat the absolute minimum," Yukari responded with innocence, highly contradictory to Saori's current mood. "My allowance goes to my hobby!"

Saori lost her fire as she listened on. She now appeared confused.

"I don't eat any snacks, so I'm always somewhat hung-"

Yukari was interrupted by a loud growling sound. Saori looked on for a bit before she jumped back in a cowering-like manner.

"Was that a growling stomach I just saw?!" Saori exclaimed.

"Miss Takebe looks tasty, right?" Yukari remarked now with a real hungry look. "Somehow."

"I can relate to that," Erich spoke up in agreement from behind.

"Don't relate!" Saori loudly retorted.

Miho then came up beside Erich and grabbed hold of his ear.

"Ouch ouch ouch ouch!" Erich struggled as Miho pulled him along by force away from the group.

"You're fixing this, _now,_ " Miho determined with no room left to argue. She had had enough of seeing Erich's prank torture Saori. "And you're going to apologize, too."

"Why can't you learn to have some fun every once in a while?" Erich replied as he struggled against Miho's grip in futility.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	3. Kapitel 1,3

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Ein: Unternehmen Mehr Liebe Liebe!_**

 ** _Kapitel Drei: Du kannst es 'Moe' nennen_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The _Panzerkraft_ girls were currently having another practice session within their training grounds. In the meantime, Yukari was talking with Miho on their _Panzer_ IV H lurking within the grounds.

"I heard that renowned commanders are excellent at reading and interpreting maps!" Yukari noted with her typical eagerness. "I'm sure it's the same with Lady Nishizumi!"

"Eh?" Miho wondered as she turned to Yukari with a small smile. She had momentarily stopped sketching in something on her map.

She then grew a small blush as she went back to sketching in the details of her map. "I-I'm not like that..." she shyly responded.

On the map itself were marked positions for each vehicle in the current session, but there was also a large drawing of Boko's face in the upper-right corner.

Concurrently, the two on the _Panzer_ IV heard another vehicle coming up beside them. It was the _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ without two of its normal loaders. In their place was Erich, and he was also wielding his _Sturmgewehr_ 44\. All of the guys were in their _Jägermeistern_ uniforms.

As the _Acht-Acht_ pulled up alongside and came to a stop, Erich then jumped onto the _Panzer_ IV as the girls shifted their attention to him. "Now what are you doing here just being an adorable little Moe?" he questioned Miho with a grin as he came up behind the commander's position.

Miho shyly turned away with her smile as her blush deepened. "Please, not here, _Bubi,_ " she practically begged with her shy demeanor. Because of her shyness, the beg didn't sound very convincing.

They were shaken out of their state, though, when the _Acht-Acht_ opened fire on a target.

"Contact!" Anton alerted. Upon hearing him, the two crews reacquired their focus as they prepared for an engagement.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	4. Kapitel 1,4

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Ein: Unternehmen Mehr Liebe Liebe!_**

 ** _Kapitel Vier: Anmutig_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

At the firing range aboard the _Zuikaku,_ Yukari was busy talking with Herz, who was currently shooting at the targets with his bow and arrows.

"Mister Benz, I really admire your gentlemanly actions and calmness!" Yukari eagerly stated as Herz unleashed an arrow.

"Oh, you're such a flatterer," Herz replied with a calm grin. His arrow struck his chosen target dead in the center.

"But it's true! I'm extremely jealous of your boldness and chivalry!" Yukari continued on as Herz shot off another arrow.

"Jeez," Herz commented as he handed her an arrow. The arrow he had just shot hit the same point as his first arrow, and it split his first arrow down the center.

"Your hair is so smooth... You also have great style!" Yukari continued with her praise as Herz unleashed yet another arrow at the target.

"There you go again," Herz noted once again with calmness as he began inserting arrows into Yukari's typically messy hair. The arrow he had shot toward the range once again split his previous arrow down the middle as it hit the exact same spot as his previous two.

XXXXXXXXXX

Eventually after leaving Herz to his extreme target practice, Yukari was walking around the ship now with many, many arrows poked through her hair and at various points in her clothes. She also had a bow that was hanging around her neck. She still had her typical eager demeanor present as she continued forth.

There were some people staring at her appearance as she walked on. Shinobu and Seth both had raised eyebrows. Karina, Christoph, Ayumi, and Mesut all had their mouths hanging open a bit as they looked on at Yukari.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	5. Kapitel 1,5

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Ein: Unternehmen Mehr Liebe Liebe!_**

 ** _Kapitel Fünf: Nachts-David_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

At night within his room, David was wide-awake within the darkness as he laid in bed. He had been so for some time.

Finally, he had enough of laying awake, and he got up. He got dressed and headed out the door into the black night. All that he could hear were sounds typical of the night aboard the _Zuikaku,_ which included the ocean waves striking the massive carrier's hull along with various bugs and insects chirping away and buzzing about through the pitch-black air.

Later in the night, he had climbed up to the top of one of the houses, and upon getting to the top of the roof he spotted a Dachshund. They stared on at each other for a bit before they both began howling into the night in ways only a dog could.

Eventually, David headed back to his house and collapsed asleep after getting into some sleepwear. It was coincidentally around the same time the sun started shining across the sky as it poked up from the eastern horizon.

"Sleepy..." David moaned as he lied in bed. He was still extremely sleepy from his eventful 'night out.'

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	6. Kapitel 1,6

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Ein: Unternehmen Mehr Liebe Liebe!_**

 ** _Kapitel Sechs: Erwachsen David_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

' _Children who sleep will grow,_ ' David thought as he slept away in his bed during the night. ' _Or so they say..._ '

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, David met up with his group of friends, but he appeared different now. While he was still in his school uniform, he himself appeared taller. But along with the extra height, he also had a more toned body. He appeared much like a more grown-up version of himself, all things considered. His uniform was also sized to fit his new proportions.

"I've grown up at last," David proclaimed with his everlasting monotone.

"Good fucking God!" Anton spoke up in surprise. He stared on at David's new form in great wonder and shock. He was now noticeably shorter than David, as well.

"From now on, I can be a lap pillow," David remarked as Saori came to use him as a lap pillow with an excited look.

"And I can carry another tall person on my back," David continued. Hana had also come by with a happy look as she wrapped her arms around David's neck from behind. David was actually taller than her now.

"And Lemu will always be Lemu," David remarked as Lemu came by. The English boy of the Public Morals Committee was unable to say anything to David's new form without making a fool of himself, so he wisely chose to stay silent. David had a small grin the whole time everyone was reacting to his new appearance.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the real world, David was sleeping on a bench that also had Anton and Herz seated on it. David was currently panting happily like a dog as he slept and dreamed on about what life may be like for a more grown-up version of him.

"That's the sweet spot..." he muttered in satisfaction.

"Seems like he's having a good dream," Anton noted with a grin as he talked with Herz. Herz nodded in agreement with his own grin.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	7. Kapitel 1,7

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Ein: Unternehmen Mehr Liebe Liebe!_**

 ** _Kapitel Sieben: Kampfwäsche_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

At the hangars, the _Jägermeisern_ guys were all in gym clothes as they prepared to wash down the team's aircraft yet again.

"Today we're washing the fighters, huh?" Nathan spoke up. He then looked to the Bf 109 K-4 "That looks like the one I want to do first!"

He soon had himself a hose with a spray nozzle equipped, and he took it to the _Messer._

"Let's start with this!" Nathan proclaimed. "Take this! _Blitzkrieg!_ " He then began to hose down the Bf 109 with great vigor. "Our ambush will succeed! The fighter's fate will be decided here! Running is futile! Muahahaha!"

Soon, his attention was drawn by the _Messer's_ canopy swinging open to the side. Climbing out of said canopy was a drenched Erich. He had just his pants and boots on. All of his upper garments weren't being worn at the moment. He appeared to have taken no harm to the vicious spraying, as he appeared relatively normal.

Nathan looked on for a moment in a stunned state before he finally cried out, " _Bubi!_ "

Nathan's yell was loud enough to be heard across the hangar area, and it drew the attention of Pfirsich. The PR Rep raised an eyebrow in curiosity as to what was going on.

Nathan had by now backed away from Erich as the blond-haired German ultra-ace stepped down from the Bf 109 and shook off the water. Nathan himself was currently on the ground giving a massive bow one would give to a king.

"Don't worry about it, Nathan," Erich waved off with a calm smile as he looked toward Nathan. "It's my fault anyway that I dozed off in there without telling anyone. Now get up."

"That's no excuse! I'm terribly sorry, eh!" Nathan deeply apologized with a look to match as he rose to his knees. "I poured water all over _Bubi's_ legacy... Just punish me somehow, please!"

Erich rolled his eyes at Nathan's behavior, but he obliged and went to go get the hose Nathan had used. He then sprayed him with it directly in the face.

" _Bubi!_ Isn't this great?!" Nathan managed to get out in the midst of his 'punishment.' He was still on his knees.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Pfirsich asked as he came by the pair.

"Don't mind us," Erich dismissed with his everlasting calm smile. Soon after, he sneezed. "Achoo!"

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day, the _Jägermeistern_ guys were grouped up around the hangars again, but there was one notable person missing. Coming in their place was one Miho Nishizumi.

"What? Erich is absent?!" Pfirsich exclaimed. He was wearing a mask over his mouth like those worn in hospitals. He himself didn't look so hot. "From just a cold?!" Pfirsich then coughed a few times.

"He wouldn't be of any use to us if he forced himself to come here," Aprikose remarked with an understanding look. Zitrus was alongside him and Pfirsich with an understanding smile. "Well tell him I said to fully recover, okay Miho?"

"You don't have much of an appetite while sick, but at least take some provisions!" Abe granted as he handed over some berries meant to help recover from illness.

"What if it's the pestilence?!" Leonidas spoke up in a somewhat paranoid manner. "Kill all the rats! Burn them at the stake!"

"Typhus, malaria, syphilis," Wolf began in musing. "Infectious diseases are your worst enemy on the battlefield."

"There's no sickness that can't be crushed with a great helping of beer!" Gustav confidently stated as he held forth a pack of beers "Not the American piss water, but the good stuff from Scandinavia, including the _f_ _osterland._ "

"That's it!" the other three history buffs exclaimed in agreement.

"Repel the cold with fighting spirit!" Ron declared with great energy.

"Fighting spirit!" Alex and Harry agreed with the same amount of energy.

"I think you got the sports mixed up," Seth commented in response.

"Wow, a cold? No way!" Erik spoke up with intrigue. "I never had one of those before!"

"Me neither!" Christoph replied with energy.

"Um..." Matthias began, but he remained silent as he simply looked around with a nervous grin at his fellow freshmen's very open voices.

"A cold, huh? Well let's look it up online," Julius suggested as he pulled out his phone. He then began looking up colds. "'First take off your...'"

"Hey, we should all write a card together!" Mesut suggested. In the meantime, Bastian was staring off into space like he often did.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Es tut mir Leid, Miholein,_ " Erich spoke up with a weak smile. He appeared as sick as he could be with a cold, which wasn't much but it was still easily noticeable. He was sitting up on the bed now within his and Miho's apartment wearing just his white boxers. He also had some headphones hanging from the top of his ears. He was evidently blasting Sabaton music through them. "I made you worry about me."

"It's okay, _Bubi._ Just rest for now," Miho replied with a gentle smile from in front of him. "I'll make some porridge for you, okay?" She then went over to the small kitchen their apartment had, and she began to make some porridge by the oven. "But still, you poor thing..."

"Don't get that way with me, Miho," Erich countered as he looked on at her. "I can fend for myself if I must. But still, thanks for choosing to help me out."

"I'd help you out anyways, Erich," Miho responded as she set the porridge on the oven and set the timer for it. "The porridge should be done in a bit, so while that's being done..."

She then started for Erich again before she sat down atop his lap and straddled him with a suggestive grin as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "How about we have some _fun?_ " Miho coyly suggested as she pressed her forehead to Erich's.

"Jeez, you never miss a chance, do you?" Erich responded with a playful grin as he brought his own arms around Miho's waist.

"No, I don't." Miho then initiated yet another make-out session with her beloved blonde knight. It grew to be very passionate very quickly. Miho had soon forced Erich onto his back on the bed as she continued passionately making out with him, now doing so atop him. Throughout the session, Miho's school uniform's upper garments had begun riding up, showing part of her smooth and toned midriff. Her skirt also followed the path upwards away from her hips, revealing much of her smooth and well-toned thighs.

However, just before the make-out session could progress into the clothes-off territory, the oven alarm went off. Miho and Erich halted their dirty deeds as Miho sat up and looked to the oven.

"Oh, looks like the porridge is done," Miho observed, and she then made her way off of Erich and the bed. She then readjusted her outfit to its previous more proper state. She then offered Erich a hand. "Come on. Let's eat."

Erich took the offered hand and helped himself up and off the bed. The two then made their way to the small table within the small apartment. Miho helped Erich to a seat, and she then went over to the couch and grabbed the small blanket off the back of it before she went back to the table.

"Here," Miho offered as she draped the blanket over Erich's shoulders. She then took a seat from across him. "You're not cold now, are you? If you start feeling bad, just say it."

"I'm fine now," Erich assured as Miho served out the porridge for both of them.

"Oh, right!" Miho spoke up as if remembering something. She then started digging through her bag beside the table. "All of the _Jägermeistern_ guys asked me to give you these things."

She first brought out a small branch with some leeks on them. "The leeks _Herr_ President offered are... better, so I'll have to drain them."

"Better?" Erich wondered as he ate his food.

Next up, Miho held up a pack of beer. "Gustav sent over some of the good beer from Europe, but you're crazy if you think I'm letting you get your hands on them now."

She then held up a card. It was notable in that it had the emblem of _Wildkatze-Fünf_ prominently displayed on it. "I don't really get this one, but it's a card the freshmen boys decided to make for you."

Erich had a smile at the sight of the things offered forth by the _Jägermeistern_ team.

"And from the Badminton Club..." Miho then cleared her throat. "Fighting spirit!" she yelled with energy.

Erich snorted at the sight. "They're as lively as usual, that's good," he remarked with a satisfied smile as he continued eating.

"Pfirsich got a cold as well, so he was even more of his usual self when I went to see the guys."

The two continued to eat with each other as they talked about other things throughout their meal.

XXXXXXXXXX

Eventually, the two had cleared the table of food.

"That was good," Erich complimented.

"You're welcome," Miho responded as she gathered the dishes. "I'll clean up for us."

"Yeah... Sorry for making you do all this..."

"It's no problem, _Bubi._ "

Erich then started to sway a bit in his seat as he grew dizzy. "Is it me or is it getting hot in here?"

"What do you mean?" Miho turned around to look at Erich, and she gasped in surprise upon seeing him sweating. "Oh my! You need to get that washed off right away!" She then ran off to their bathroom. "I'll get everything ready for you!"

"But it's not that bad. Really," Erich tried, but Miho continued on undeterred.

"Please, leave it to me!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon, Miho had set up an impromptu washing area with a bucket of water and some washcloths in the center of the apartment. Erich was seated in the same area as Miho kneeled behind him and got a washcloth wet in the bucket.

"Let me know if you feel any itchy spots, okay?" Miho requested.

"Alright," Erich granted as he relaxed.

Miho then gently applied the wet washcloth to his back and wiped all around his back multiple times with care. After getting the wipe-down finished, she put the cloth down and flexed her hands.

"That cloth felt a little rough. Just something I noticed," Erich revealed.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of that for you," Miho replied somewhat seductively as she gently laid her hands on Erich's shoulders. She then began to give him a relaxing massage, and Erich clearly felt its effects as he relaxed greatly into the extremely pleasing touch of his _Fräulein's_ soft hands.

XXXXXXXXXX

Much later, Erich and Miho were both getting ready to head to sleep.

"Well, I think we should get some rest now, shouldn't we?" Miho suggested as she stripped down into her desert pink undergarments.

"Yeah," Erich agreed from his spot already lying in bed. He was still in just his white boxers. "You were a great help today. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out. _Dankeschön._ "

Miho then descended into the bed for herself, and she laid by Erich's side as she began gently tracing her finger around his bare chest. "You said you'd do anything for me," she spoke up with a smile. "You're the best friend I could ever ask for, so who would I be to not reciprocate?"

Erich responded by closing an arm around Miho. "Still, thank you."

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day then rolled around, and practices for both the _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ teams were set to begin. This time, both teams were going to do a joint practice.

" _Bubi,_ are you good?" Miho asked Erich as the two approached the group of Arts of Warfare members.

Erich himself was looking much better over his state the previous day. He was now in his normal school attire. "Yeah," he replied with a smile. "Thanks to your help."

"Well, let's start with the practice then," Anzu suggested as the two German commanders came into the group. Anzu herself was performing some of her stretches in the meantime.

Erich took the time to look around the area at all of the Arts of Warfare participants. ' _Huh, it seems we're a person short,_ ' he noted within his thoughts.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in another living space, Pfirsich was lying down on the floor with some blankets covering him. He himself appeared pretty sick.

"Zitrus, it's painful," he moaned. He was apparently talking over his phone to Zitrus. "Oh, you're busy now?... I see, sorry..."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	8. Kapitel 2,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zwei: Es ist Prawda!_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Mit Sascha spielen!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Somewhere aboard the _Kiev,_ Katyusha was on the shoulders of Sasha so she could once again be taller. She had her arms crossed as she looked on ahead, and Sasha had no particular expression of note. Both were in their normal Pravda school uniforms.

Soon, Katyusha resorted to leaning forward and wrapping her arms around the top of Sasha's head as she started growing bored. Sasha had no reaction.

Eventually, Katyusha grew even more bored, and she started tapping her hands on the sides of Sasha's head. Sasha once again had no reaction.

Later, Katyusha started messing around with Sasha's blond hair as she started trying to entertain herself. Sasha had no reaction once again, for the moment.

As Katyusha continued on, though, Sasha suddenly snapped, "If you keep playing around with me when you're bored, I'm gonna toss you off!"

Katyusha jumped a bit in surprise, but she obeyed the Russian ace and cut it out with her messing around. She grew a more nervous look, though, upon hearing Sasha react with such hostility.

From further away, Nonna and Nudelmann were watching the scene with small grins.

"Bet you she'll do it again in two minutes," Nudelmann spoke up.

"You're on," Nonna replied.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	9. Kapitel 2,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zwei: Es ist Prawda!_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Klauben Müll_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The Pravda group was currently in the hangars. Sasha was seated in front of his toolbox on a stool, and Katyusha was not too far away. Nonna and Nudelmann were directing everyone else from their Arts of Warfare programs with maintaining the equipment the school had.

"Hey, Katyusha," Sasha beckoned. "I'll clean your ears for you."

" _Chto?!_ You don't have to!" Katyusha responded with surprise and some embarrassment. "It's embarrassing!"

"You can't do such things by yourself," Sasha retorted unshaken by Katyusha's current attitude. He then patted his lap. "Now come, or I'll get Nudelmann to do it instead! Neither of us want that, right?"

Katyusha hesitantly walked forth toward Sasha and sighed with her embarrassed blush still evident. "I-I guess I have no choice..." she acquiesced as she laid her head on Sasha's lap.

Sasha then leaned back to his toolbox and pulled out a seal pick. "Now understand, Katyusha, that you are _not_ to move at all during this, or you will deeply regret it."

"Huh?" Katyusha wondered as she grew a bit nervous at hearing Sasha's tone.

Sasha then carefully lowered his seal pick down to Katyusha's ear and started gently picking out the earwax within.

" _Chto?_ Ear cleaning is done like this?!" Katyusha voiced in surprise. She had moved her head in response to feeling what was being used to clean her ears.

Sasha forcefully held her head down with his free hand. "You must _not_ move at all, Katyusha," he repeated.

"Huh?!" Katyusha reacted as she started trying to get away from Sasha's seal pick. Sasha was able to hold her down for the moment with his free hand.

Sasha then sighed. "Nonna! Nudelmann! Get over here and hold her down!" he called out as he continued holding down a struggling Katyusha. She was desperately trying to force herself away from Sasha's tool with fear in her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	10. Kapitel 2,3

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zwei: Es ist Prawda!_**

 ** _Kapitel Drei: Wir sind stolz auf unsere Kinder_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

All four of Pravda's _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ leaders were currently on a train heading throughout the massive Russian landscape. Katyusha and Sasha were seated with each other, while Nonna and Nudelmann were both standing beside them. The two smaller Russians were sharing the same seat in a sense. Katyusha was sitting on Sasha's lap, considering she was small enough to do so comfortably.

Eventually, Nonna and Nudelmann both spotted an old lady coming closer to their spots as she walked down the aisle slowly. She also had a cane with her.

Katyusha and Sasha noticed a bit later, and they both got up out of their seat.

"Here, ma'am! Take my seat!" Katyusha offered with a smile.

"Oh, I'm very sorry," the lady apologized as she stopped before the four Pravda leaders.

"Don't worry ma'am!" Sasha waved off with a smile as he came closer to the lady. "Do you need any help?"

"Oh, that would be nice. Thank you," the lady thanked and handed Sasha her cane. Sasha then helped her into the seat Katyusha offered, and after doing so he handed over her cane.

The old lady then turned to Nonna and Nudelmann, who were currently watching the scene with warm smiles. "The young ones have fine character," the lady observed to them. "I can see that their parents raised them well."

Katyusha and Sasha both raised an eyebrow. Neither of them expected the old lady they showed generosity toward to say something like that.

" _Da, spasibo,_ " Nudelmann calmly replied as he and Nonna rested their hands on Sasha's and Katyusha's shoulders respectively.

"Hey, what is this?!" Sasha reacted. "It may not sound too bad, but don't add to the confusion!" he denied.

"The idea of us four as a family may not sound all that bad, but please don't mistake us for one!" Katyusha similarly denied.

"Calm down, _deti,_ " Nonna calmly told the two smaller blondes with a grin. "It's impolite to be so loud in public."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	11. Kapitel 2,4

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zwei: Es ist Prawda!_**

 ** _Kapitel Vier: Körperhöhe_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

In one of Pravda's courtyards, the four Pravda leaders were standing around as they observed everyone there. Katyusha was on Nonna's shoulders.

"This year's new students are all smaller than me again!" Katyusha confidently boasted from atop Nonna.

"That's because people taller than me are rare," Nonna replied.

The slightly taller Nudelmann coughed with implication from her left.

Nonna looked to him out of the corner of her eyes in response. "You're the exception, not the rule," she replied with her calm smile.

"I'm still taller than you, though," Nudelmann insisted with his own calm grin.

"Ah, _tovarishch!_ " someone spoke up. "I hope to bring you great glory!"

Someone very tall had approached from the front of the four leaders. The person was taller than Nonna, and they were even taller than Nudelmann by a bit.

Katyusha looked on at the new person for a few seconds in a stunned state before she literally jumped onto Nudelmann. The even taller Russian had already anticipated what was to come, and he had already prepared to catch the tiny Russian girl. He then lifted her up to his shoulders, and Katyusha stood atop them on her feet. Nudelmann held her feet for support.

" _Dobro pozhalovat' v Pravdu!_ " Katyusha greeted from her current point above the new person.

"Wait a minute, this person can't even _hope_ to fit in any of our vehicles!" Sasha realized from Nudelmann's left after he examined the new person's height more closely.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	12. Kapitel 2,5

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zwei: Es ist Prawda!_**

 ** _Kapitel Fünf: Absolut spaß!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Pravda's four leaders were walking through one of the development blocks aboard the _Kiev,_ but Nonna soon spotted a playground in the area.

"Katyusha, it's a park," she told Katyusha. "Do you want to go play?"

"Don't treat me like a child!" Katyusha sharply retorted.

"Hey, Sasha, why don't you go play with her?" Nudelmann suggested with a calm demeanor.

"What?!" Sasha reacted in surprise. "Why am _I_ doing this _der'mo?!_ "

Nonna then looked to Sasha with a glare. "What did Nudelmann and I tell you about using language, Sasha?" she questioned in a manner only a mother could pull off.

Sasha gulped in a bit of fear at Nonna's current mood. "Okay, okay, I'll do it," he relented as he gave up and entered the park with Katyusha.

First up, Sasha and Katyusha came up to a slide, and the shorter of them began climbing up the ladder behind it. Nonna and Nudelmann looked on from nearby with calm smiles.

"Jeez, what's supposed to be interesting about this?" Katyusha wondered as she sat atop the slide and prepared to slide down.

"Only from a physics and an engineering perspective are slides even _remotely_ interesting," Sasha opined as he held onto Katyusha's hand while she slid down.

After the slide, the two went into the sand box. Nonna and Nudelmann kneeled beside the sand box with calm smiles as they watched the two smaller Russians play.

"This is so boring!" Katyusha complained as she built a sand sculpture of a KV-2.

"There's a limit to child's play, you know!" Sasha implied to the two taller Russians that were simply looking on at the smaller Russians like how parents would look at their children. Sasha was concurrently building a scale replica of a Polikarpov I-16 Type 28 out of sand. It was flawless in its appearance, and it even flew as a bonus.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Nonna and Nudelmann had pulled away the two smaller Russians and led them away with their hands as they headed down the street again.

"You're both covered in dirt," Nonna observed wth a smile as she held onto Katyusha's hand and led her onward.

"Let's get a bath once we get back home," Nudelmann suggested with a smile as he held onto Sasha's hand and led him back home with the girls.

" _Da..._ " Katyusha and Sasha responded simultaneously in a bit of a daze. They were indeed dirty from their time in the sand, as Nonna observed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later at their home, all four of them were in a large bathroom wrapped in towels. Nonna was currently filling the large tub within with water.

"I'm filling it with hot water now," she notified the other three.

During the wait, Sasha had been fiddling with a spray nozzle he modified as he tried attaching it to the shower head. All the while, he had a mischievous grin.

Eventually, he finished and aimed his creation at Nudelmann. "Your ass is unprotected, Nudelmann!" he declared as he opened fire with cold water from the shower head. The new nozzle Sasha fitted had greatly flattened out the trajectory of the spraying, and so Nudelmann got sprayed with cold water almost continuously, a very unpleasant experience.

Sasha soon ceased his fire, and Nudelmann slowly turned around in his current drenched state. Sasha noticed he didn't look pleased at all, and he lost his grin.

"Where's the apology?" Nudelmann coldly demanded.

" _Akh, blyad',_ " Sasha could only react with as he froze stiff.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later, everyone was in the bath. Nonna and Nudelmann were both relaxing beside each other as they sighed, and Katyusha and Sasha were beside each other while Sasha relaxed. Katyusha, however, wasn't relaxing.

She was staring at Nonna's rack, which was currently floating up at the waterline, and she grew jealous of the sight.

Katyusha then thought of an idea as evidenced by her change in facial expressions. She took two wet towels and two balloons, and she set the towels atop the balloons after blowing up the balloons. She then let them rest in the water ahead of her so as to mimic the was Nonna's rack was.

Katyusha looked satisfied and triumphant with her idea. However, Nonna didn't appear pleased or humored, and she gave a look to Sasha.

Sasha caught her look and rolled his eyes as he grabbed a seal pick from his clothes that were within reach of the bath. He then quickly popped both balloons before Katyusha could even react, and he then put back his tool.

"Awwwwww," Katyusha whined.

XXXXXXXXXX

As their bath wore on, Katyusha eventually fell asleep. She chose to rest against Sasha's chest as she slept.

Sasha then grew an idea, and he used his hands to spray Katyusha's face with water.

"Ah!" Katyusha shot awake after being rudely awakened. She then looked around on instinct to find who did it. She only found Nonna and Nudelmann watching from across.

She then looked behind at Sasha, who was relaxing for the moment. Then Nudelmann surprised Katyusha by quickly spraying her in the face from range.

"Ah!" the tiny Russian cried out upon being struck by Nudelmann's brief but accurate fire.

"Sleeping while in the bath can cause you to faint," Sasha calmly remarked from behind her. Katyusha turned around to face him with a pissed expression. "So you need to be careful, Katyusha."

Katyusha immediately tried to spray him, but Sasha ducked down below the water and dodged in anticipation. He then lurked around in the water for some time.

Katyusha looked around in paranoia to find him, but during that time she also realized that Nonna and Nudelmann had done the same and descended into the water. She was now even more on edge with the knowledge that three people were hunting her.

Eventually, Nonna popped out right in front of her and sprayed her in the face.

"Ah!" Katyusha cried out as she got hit again.

Soon, she recovered from the surprise attacks. "Sasha, you better prepare yourself!" she said in determination.

"You're too weak, Katyusha," Sasha taunted.

"Watch it, Nonna," Nudelmann forewarned.

"You're going to get it, too, Nudelmann," Nonna retorted.

Soon enough, the four Russians in the bath ended up somehow devolving into performing very, very dirty deeds if the sounds of pleasure from within the bathroom were anything to consider. Such sounds continued on for some time before all grew silent and only the relieved breaths after said pleasure were heard.

Soon, the doors to the bathroom opened, and out stepped the four Russians wrapped in towels and in a very disoriented state. They all still had a blush from their pleasure time, as well.

Katyusha was barely hanging on to Sasha as she rode on his back, and Sasha was barely able to stand as he swayed back and forth in his steps. Nonna and Nudelmann were in similar states, as Nonna rested upon Nudelmann's back winded and Nudelmann walked with very little coordination.

"I feel dizzy..." Nudelmann remarked in a daze. The other three Russians dazedly nodded in agreement as they struggled to continue onward.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day, many of Pravda's students had caught wind of what the four Pravda leaders had done.

"Hey, comrades Katyusha, Nonna, Sasha, and Nudelmann last night, I heard..." one girl gossiped.

"My! Those four getting dizzy is what's so cute about it!" the girl with her remarked.

"Hey, did you hear? Comrades Katyusha, Sasha, Nonna, and Nudelmann..." Nina began.

"I heard it, I heard it!" Alina excitedly replied. She then raised her finger. "Last night..."

"Good God! Comrades Katyusha and Sasha, and comrades Nonna and Nudelmann!" another girl awed.

"Doing those deeds!" another girl similarly spoke.

"Together!" yet another girl spoke in a similar fan-girl tone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon, two visitors came by to Katyusha's office. Also present with Katyusha and Nonna were Sasha and Nudelmann.

"I heard something about you all doing 'something exciting while naked,'" Arthur implied with a grin. He and Darjeeling were by the open entry door, and they each held a cup of tea as they held grins directed at the Russians.

"Tell us, where did you get that information?" all four Russians requested with no evident changes in their expressions.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	13. Kapitel 2,6

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zwei: Es ist Prawda!_**

 ** _Kapitel Sechs: Katjuscha Tagebuch_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Katyusha was currently snooping through Nonna's room like the curious child-like girl she was, but she stopped upon seeing a lone book face-up on the desk.

The book had the title 'Katyusha Diary,' and listed as the author was Nonna. Listed as additional contributors were Sasha and Nudelmann.

Katyusha stared at the book for some time as she debated to snoop through it or not, and the debate in her head was driving her mad.

' _Just do it already!_ ' her thoughts screamed at her body, but her body only just barely moved. Her arm started to reach for the book.

"Hey, Katyusha," Sasha spoke up from behind her with a smile. "What are you doing in Nonna's room?"

"Ah!" Katyusha jumped in great surprise. She then slowly but nervously turned around. "I-I-I-I-I-It's nothing!" she stuttered out in great nervousness. "Nothing!" She nervously laughed before she coughed in a similar manner. Sasha simply raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Katyusha then began to skip out of the room. "It's time for my noontime nap!" she declared still with nervousness. "S-See you!"

Sasha just watched Katyusha run off in curiosity. When she got out of the room, he hardened and pulled out his phone. "We may have had a leak just now of the secret documents. Remain on alert, _tovarishchi,_ " he spoke into his phone.

" _Da, tovarishch,_ " he heard Nonna and Nudelmann both reply.

Outside of the room, Katyusha was in deep thought as she walked on to her room.

' _'Katyusha Diary?!'_ ' she thought. ' _Just what could be written inside?! Just_ what?!'

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon after, Katyusha finally turned in for her nap within her sleepwear, which was a nightshirt with Pravda's version of the hammer and sickle on the upper left part of the front. As she lied in her bed asleep, she began to dream.

She was still sleeping, but a shadow started being cast over her as someone else entered the room.

' _13:00 hours,_ ' Sasha thought as he approached and brought his face super close to Katyusha's. He also slithered his arms underneath her. ' _Katyusha is having a pleasant noontime nap..._ '

XXXXXXXXXX

"Uwah!" Katyusha cried out as she woke up. She then looked around in paranoia, but she found nobody in the room with her. "A-A dream?" she wondered as she started calming down.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Katyusha yawned while riding atop Sasha's shoulders. Nonna and Nudelmann were also beside as the group walked along.

"Are you lacking sleep, Katyusha?" Sasha asked from below after hearing the tiny Russian girl above him yawn.

"Ma-Maybe just a bit," Katyusha replied with a bit of sleepiness as she rubbed her eyes.

Katyusha then looked around at Nonna and Nudelmann, and she found them with their typical calm demeanors. She also managed to sense that Sasha wasn't acting any different than he usually did, either.

' _They're all acting as usual,_ ' Katyusha thought. ' _Surely I'm overthinking this..._ '

She then grew a panicked look as she looked ahead. "Wa-Sto-!" she tried, but she also ended up reaching for Sasha's face during her panic. She ended up poking her fingers into Sasha's blue eyes.

"Ah!" Sasha yelled out in pain as he immediately sunk to his knees and grabbed his face. Katyusha ended up falling off his back harmlessly in the process. " _Suka blyad'!_ "

"Sasha!" Katyusha cried out in a panic as Nonna and Nudelmann quickly rushed forth to help Sasha. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"

Katyusha continued staring on in fear at Sasha as Nonna and Nudelmann started helping the Russian ace stand up.

Katyusha then fearfully imagined what she thought was going to happen soon.

XXXXXXXXXX

She imagined Sasha, Nudelmann, and Nonna all in a room writing in the so-called 'Katyusha Diary.' Also in the room was a picture of Katyusha with darts and arrows chucked at it and resting on the wall behind after cleaving holes through the picture.

' _Noon,_ ' Sasha began writing. ' _Stabbed my eyeballs. Grudge: an additional 25 rubles._ '

' _Evening,_ ' Nonna began writing. ' _Noisily ate dinner. Grudge: an additional 10 rubles._ '

' _Cheeky despite being small,_ ' Nudelmann wrote. ' _Grudge: plus 50 rubles._ '

' _Katyusha,_ ' Nonna began writing again. ' _Current grudge: 8,500 rubles. One of these days: Purge._ '

XXXXXXXXXX

Katyusha then came back to reality after she finished imagining her fate. ' _The-The-The-The-They'll kill me!_ ' she thought in terror.

During her thoughts, Nudelmann and Nonna had helped Sasha stand up on his own. Sasha then turned his head toward Katyusha.

"I'm good," Sasha notified as he rubbed his eyes with a slight smile.

"Let's get you to the nurse for some eye drops," Nonna suggested. She and Nudelmann then started leading Sasha toward the nurse's office.

Katyusha had widened her eyes seeing Sasha be relatively okay with her stabbing him in the eyes. As Sasha left the area with Nonna and Nudelmann, Katyusha looked on at the three with an expression that effectively combined confusion and fear.

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time later, Nonna and Nudelmann walked out of the nurse's office with a completely healthy Sasha behind.

"Oh, you waited for me Katyusha?" he asked upon seeing Katyusha outside.

The tiny Russian girl was currently on her knees and bent forward so her arms supported her against the floor. She was holding up a white flag, and in front of her on the floor were some things Nonna had given to entertain her. Notably among them was a toy KV-2, along with Nonna's wallet that now had its contents disorganized plus her pocket of change.

"Just spare my life at least..." Katyusha begged as she shed a few tears and awaited her fate.

" _Chto?_ " Sasha wondered in confusion as he saw the state Katyusha was in. He then picked her up and put her on his shoulders again. "I'm not angry with you at all!" he assured with a smile as the four Pravda leaders set off again.

"Really?" Katyusha asked in a bit of confusion and hope. "You don't hate being together with me?"

"Being by your side is my-no, _our_ pleasure!" Sasha then looked to his left and right at Nonna and Nudelmann. " _Da?_ "

" _Da,_ " the two taller Russians replied in confirmation with their calm smiles.

"Sasha..." Katyusha said again as she grew a relieved smile. She also simultaneously grew a blush hearing everyone's reassurances.

XXXXXXXXXX

Katyusha then flashed back to a very specific day she remembered very well.

"Please take a look at my strategy proposal!" Katyusha requested. She was talking with two people that were within the Arts of Warfare programs of Pravda, and she was showing them a clipboard with her strategy on it. From the shadows watching on was Sasha. "I'm sure-"

" _Da, da,_ we'll hand it over to the _komandir,_ " one of them interrupted and dismissed.

"Please take a proper look at it!" Katyusha insisted. "I'm sure that with it our school will-!"

"I get it, I get it, little one," one of them interrupted again. "Now see you later." The two then turned to walk away. Katyusha looked much discouraged upon being rejected as she slumped her shoulders.

"Hey!" a voice angrily called after them. Katyusha looked to it in surprise from its volume, and she discovered it was Sasha who was angrily heading after the two.

The two from the Arts of Warfare programs stopped and turned to the disturbance.

"How dare you speak to a comrade that way!" Sasha angrily continued. "Don't you see how much we could benefit from someone of her knowledge?! We could-!"

"Sasha, for the last time, we're not making you a pilot," one of them interrupted. "We already told you that Pravda's aviation needs mechanics just as badly as it does pilots. That situation has not changed at all since then. Now get back to work."

Sasha lost his fire upon hearing the order. " _Da, tovarishch,_ " he replied affirmative without any enthusiasm as he slumped his shoulders.

Soon, though, a loud shot rang out and shaved the hair off the top of the heads of the two Arts of Warfare members. Both Katyusha and Sasha ducked and turned to the source in surprise.

"What is this?!" one of the members cried out as they ran away with haste and desperation. Another shot rang out and struck one of them straight in the ass.

"Ouch!" the one hit cried out. Yet another shot rang out and struck the other one straight in the ass as well.

"Ouch! That hurts, _blyad'!_ " the other cursed as they were hit. The two under attack finally managed to scamper away to safety and out of sight.

Katyusha and Sasha kept looking on at the source of the two members' troubles: Nudelmann, who was currently armed with a PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle. The Russian sharpshooter looked on toward the area of his foes with a cold gaze as he silently dared them to come back.

Katyusha then felt herself getting lifted up by her shoulders.

"Huh?! _Chto?!_ " she wondered as she was set down atop Nonna's shoulders. "Nonna?! What are you-?"

"With this, you're no longer a 'little one,'" Nonna interrupted with her calm demeanor.

Katyusha also noticed Sasha and Nudelmann come beside her new perch, and the group of four then set off.

"More so..." Nudelmann began with a calm grin.

"You're a much greater person than all others, Katyusha," Sasha spoke up in continuation with his confident smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

' _Right!_ ' Katyusha thought in a reassuring manner back in the present after her flashback. She was now back at home in Nonna's room again. ' _Since the bond that Sasha, Nudelmann, Nonna and I all share is a strong one!_ '

She then turned to the desk as she grew an idea. She hesitated for a bit, but she then took a breath and determinedly reached for the Katyusha Diary she was so curious about. ' _There can't be any bad things written inside!_ ' she thought.

She grabbed the book and started looking through it, but all she found were completely white pages.

"But... What?" she uttered at a complete loss as she flipped through the book completely filled with white pages. "White pages? There's nothing written-"

"Ah, so you finally saw it, Katyusha?" Sasha began with a smile as he set his hands on Katyusha's shoulders.

"Ah!" the tiny Russian girl jumped in surprise. She quickly turned around and found Sasha was present along with Nonna and Nudelmann.

"It's just a notebook," Nudelmann calmly notified as he held up the open book with a hand.

"Don't use such a puzzling name!" Katyusha barked at the other three. She then started to head out of the room. "Really now!" She then sighed in relief after finally solving her mystery.

The three other Russians stayed back and let Katyusha go. Nonna was currently holding another book behind her back. This one was supposedly the real Katyusha Diary, as it appeared identical to the other book, but it had the addition of being chained.

"She is never to know about this book's existence," Nonna stated after the three were alone.

" _Da, tovarishch,_ " the two Russian boys agreed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Next time: Ooarai's Summer!

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	14. Kapitel 3,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Drei: Sommer in Ooarai!_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Wilde Qualität_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Zuikaku,_ the freshmen crew of _Wildkatze-Fünf_ was looking at Erich walk off beside Miho after another joint practice with the _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ teams. Everyone was, predictably, in their combat uniforms.

"The marks that the _Messer_ crew has on their backs are so cool," Erik remarked as he took notice of the knife emblem stitched into the back of Erich's jacket.

"I tried making one for us," Julius revealed as he pulled out a cutout of the unique emblem on the F4F's tailfin. "The wildcat is just too cool!"

"Yeah! Hey, put it on!" Erik turned around for Julius to apply the emblem to the back of his jacket.

"Okay!" Julius enthusiastically proceeded to apply the emblem.

"Hey, wait!" Matthias called out in an effort to halt them. "Taking it off before sewing it on would be-"

" _Autsch!_ " Erik reacted upon Julius attempting to remove the emblem from his jacket. The emblem ended up stabbing into his skin a bit with the guns as it was being removed, which certainly created a problem that would require higher-level intervention to fix.

"Hey, I heard a scream over here," Erich spoke up and got the freshmen's attention as he approached with Miho. "What's going on here?" he asked with some curiosity.

"Ah!" Matthias began with some nervousness upon facing the two commanders. "Well, it's just that... Julius made an emblem for our jackets, but..."

Miho held up a hand and stopped Matthias from going any farther. "I think I know what happened," she began with a calm smile. "You didn't sew it on first before taking it off, did you?"

Matthias remained silent for a bit, but he soon sighed in defeat as he slumped his shoulders. "Yes, _Fräulein Kapitän._ Sorry for our stupidity..."

"Hey, only _I'm_ allowed to be called a _Dummkopf_ by her, okay?" Erich spoke up to the freshmen. "You're not stupid. You just lack experience," he continued with his typical smile.

"There shouldn't be any injuries from a stab that minor, so don't worry about Erik. He'll be fine," Miho assured with her personal smile. "If you want, you can come by our place later and I can show you how to sew them in."

Matthias blinked, but he then grew a smile upon hearing the offer. " _Danke, Fräulein Kapitän,_ " he thanked Miho. "That'd be nice."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	15. Kapitel 3,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Drei: Sommer in Ooarai!_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Chris!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

One day, Erich was walking around looking for a specific person, and he soon spotted them. Both people were in their normal school attires.

"Hey," he beckoned with a wave. "Christoph Weidenfeller, was it? Part of the F4F's ground crew?"

"Aye!" Christoph replied as he turned around with a smile. "I'm Christoph Weidenfeller!"

"Ah, well it's just something related to the rear main on the F4F's engine. Trying to..." Erich trailed off when he noticed Christoph just staring on as if in another world. He swore he heard a cuckooing sound, too.

"Can you start from the beginning?!" Christoph spoke up as he snapped out of it. Erich simply smiled at the current situation.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the two of them were in the hangar by the F4F with a load of tools at the ready. Christoph was ready to tear into the American naval fighter while Erich stood by and observed.

"In the meantime, you think you can try that out?" Erich requested with his typical calm smile.

"Aye!" Christoph declared as he began quickly tearing down the F4F until he was able to put a new rear main into it. It didn't take him long at all to do it.

"Ah, the way you got to it was really clever," Erich observed. "How did you come up with that trick?"

Christoph turned away from the radial engine and looked to Erich. "I wasn't thinking of anything!" he happily informed.

Erich just snorted at the younger German's current demeanor. ' _He seems easy enough to understand, at least to me,_ ' he thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later with the other freshmen, Christoph was currently musing until he spoke up.

"My thoughts changed big time after starting _Jägermeistern,_ " he said.

"Huh?" Matthias wondered as he turned around to face Christoph. "Chris said something deep?"

"Fighters are hard to shoot down!" Christoph declared as he turned to face Matthias. "But in movies they get done in easily like a _Tiger!_ "

"Ah-" Matthias tried.

"That's bad!" Christoph cried out and interrupted.

"Yeah, right..." Matthias muttered.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later at night, Bastian heard a knock on his door, and he went to open it. Upon opening it, he found Christoph there. Both of them were in some sleepwear.

"Bastian! I'm here!" Christoph declared with his usual energetic attitude.

Soon after, the two sat down at the couch and began to watch some TV with a load of food and drinks. Christoph was also commentating on the showings.

"There's Peter! Peter!"

"There's three types of Ultraman masks!"

"Aye!" he spoke as he ate some popcorn.

"See?! Look at that!"

"And at the time of guest appearance..."

"And then! And then!"

"A short break!"

"The animation director for this episode is famous..."

"Aye aye aye!" he said as he operated the remote.

"Next, with commentary!"

"That voice actor! Did I hear that right? Again! Again!"

"Godly _Tiger!_ "

"There's four more BDs after that!"

During the whole time, Bastian remained in his usual silence.

Eventually, Christoph wore himself out when the showings ended, and he collapsed asleep on the couch. "Aye aye..." he muttered in his sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	16. Kapitel 3,3

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Drei: Sommer in Ooarai!_**

 ** _Kapitel Drei: Huckepack_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

For some reason, the Pravda leaders were currently aboard the _Zuikaku,_ and Erich took note of Katyusha riding on Sasha's shoulders as the group passed by. He then grinned as he got an idea.

He then went off to find Miho. "Hey, _Miholein,_ " he began. Miho turned to him and gave her attention. He then pointed out to the Pravda group. "You want to try that out?"

"Isn't that... _huckepack?_ " Miho wondered as she looked on at the Pravda group. "Can we really do that?"

"Well, we can try at least," Erich figured as he crouched. "Now hop on."

"... Okay..." Miho shyly acquiesced with a small smile as she moved to sit on her lover's shoulders. Erich then stood up as he held her lower legs in support.

"Don't force yourself, okay?" Miho asked with a blush on her face.

" _Au, ja!_ " Erich called out with a smile.

"Okay, can you let me down now?" Miho asked as she lost her blush and her more mature demeanor kicked in. She could clearly see that her boyfriend was severely lacking any maturity by now.

"No way," Erich denied as he shook his head with a smile. "Your ass and thighs are the best!"

Erich then started off with haste with Miho still atop his shoulders, and Miho was trying to balance herself against the sudden change in momentum. She finally did so as she got Erich to slow down, and she grew a blushing smile as she relaxed atop her blonde knight.

In the meanwhile, Saori was looking on at the two German lovers' antics. "I wonder what those two are up to..." she wondered with a small smile.

She then felt herself being raised into the air.

"Herz!" she cried out in a bit of panic as she was lifted atop Herz's shoulders. "No! Too high! Too high! Let me down!"

" _Au, ja,_ " Herz commented with a smile as he supported Saori. "Saori's ass and thighs are the best."

"You don't have to follow strange examples!" Saori barked at him.

Back with Ooarai's two German commanders, Erich still had Miho atop his shoulders as he walked on.

"Isn't this fun, _Miholein?_ " Erich asked from below with a smile.

"Yeah, but it's a bit embarrassing..." Miho shyly replied with a blushing smile. She was also concurrently trying to prevent her school uniform's green skirt from uncovering her undergarments.

In the meantime, Zitrus, Harry, and Christoph were staring at the two with smiles as the two passed by them.

"Hey, Miho!" Momo beckoned Miho's attention from behind.

"Y-Yes?!" Miho responded as she tried looking to Momo.

But with her maneuvering, she altered hers and Erich's combined center of gravity, and it became such that Erich ended up face planting into the ground.

"What are you doing?" Momo asked in confusion at the current sight.

" _Bubi?!_ " Miho spoke in a panic as she quickly got off Erich and started inspecting him for any injuries. Noriko and Azusa also came forth to offer their help to the blond-haired German ultra-ace.

As she stared on at Erich being tended to by the small group of girls, Mako got a bright idea after seeing what the two Ooarai commanders were doing prior.

She ran off in search of the Public Morals Committee and found them all together. She then began mounting herself onto Lemu's shoulders.

"Ms. Reizei?" Lemu wondered. "What's with this all of a sudden?! Wait!"

Eventually, Mako fully planted herself onto Lemu's shoulders, and Lemu unwillingly complied with supporting her.

"Hey, I can't keep you company! Hurry up and get down, jeez!" Lemu tried to dissuade Mako, but to no avail. Mako simply remained silent as she rode her steed.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	17. Kapitel 3,4

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Drei: Sommer in Ooarai!_**

 ** _Kapitel Vier: Entzugerscheinungen_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Another joint _Panzerkraft-Jägermeistern_ practice had just come to an end for Ooarai, and they were all back in their normal school attires.

"We've only been doing combat training lately…" Ron lamented as he sweated. "I miss badminton…"

He looked around at everyone and noticed some things. He noticed Zitrus walking off and Erich walking off in another direction with Miho, but he also noticed Harry. His eyes widened as he saw Harry's head, and his eyes eventually grew shuttlecocks within them.

Ron then quickly took his racquet and slammed it over Harry's head.

"Ouch!" Harry cried out as he went to the ground and held his head. Seth had seen the ordeal occur, and he looked on in surprise at it.

"What the hell, cap'n?!" Harry complained as he rubbed his head.

"Sorry!" Ron apologized. "It's just, I miss badminton so much that I started seeing shuttlecocks…"

"Hey, cap'n!" Seth called out. He was holding a shuttlecock in such a way that he prepared to toss it. "Come get it!"

Ron's eyes once again grew shuttlecocks within them as he looked on at the shuttlecock for a bit. Alex was watching with curiosity.

Ron then pulled out his racquet and quickly slammed it over Alex's head.

"That fucking hurts!" Alex cried out as he went to the ground. Seth looked on as he tried to think of another way to stop the badminton captain's madness.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	18. Kapitel 3,5

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Drei: Sommer in Ooarai!_**

 ** _Kapitel Fünf: Das Schwimmbad!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"And so!" Aprikose began as he held up a jerky strip in one hand. A bag of jerky was in his other hand. "Today, we'll be having a midsummer sports test!"

Many of the students there cheered in response. All of those there were within Ooarai's _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ teams. Everyone there was also in their swimsuits, fitting since they were at a pool aboard the _Zuikaku._

Aprikose was atop the _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ with Pfirsich and Zitrus. Zitrus had a deck brush in hand. Beside the _Acht-Acht_ was the _Panzer_ IV H with the student council girls atop it.

"Do you hold guys a sports test every year?" Miho asked her group of friends. Also there with them were Erich and his friends.

"I get the feeling this is on Anzu's whim," Erich opined.

"Wake up, David..." Anton tried to wake a sleeping David, but it was to no avail as David slept on.

"We evaluated your intellect in the last quiz battle," Pfirsich began as the student council groups came down from the vehicles. "This time we'll be evaluating your combat stamina! Be careful this time!"

"The time has finally come!" Ron enthusiastically proclaimed as he and the other badminton players rushed forth on their way to the pool.

"Blazing, eh!" Nathan reacted as he moved to dodge them.

"We are unchallenged in athletics!" Ron boasted as he pumped his fist forward when the group of four came to a stop. He then raised his other fist and stepped forward. "We will dispel the stigma of being derided as the 'Muscle-brain Team' during the quiz battle!"

"You didn't have to actually say it..." Seth remarked.

"You'll no longer say that our heads are only packed with bone!" Alex challenged with similar enthusiasm as Ron.

"You don't have to go that far and say that!" Seth retorted.

"Ah, I forgot to say it, but-" Anzu began.

"Go!" Ron cued and interrupted Anzu in the process. All four of the badminton players simultaneously dove into the pool upon the badminton captain's cue.

"Oof!" all four of the badminton players reacted as they hit the bare ground of the empty pool.

"We'll have to start with cleaning the pool first," Anzu continued.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, all of the badminton players were pulled out, and they were in a daze as they were patched up. They were then left to recover on their own as everyone else got deck brushes to help clean the pool.

"This is the spare pool of the swimming club," Yuzu informed. "They promised us free reign over it if we clean it up nicely!"

"Huh? What's with that?" Yuuki wondered with the freshmen girls. "What a bother-"

"Don't say it's bothersome!" Azusa interrupted.

"But it sounds fun!" Ayumi opined.

"Let's give it a try!" Karina suggested.

"Hey, Saki," Aya tried garnering Saki's attention. Saki was staring off into space again.

The freshmen girls soon got down into the pool with deck brushes ready, and they all sprinted forth at the same time with their deck brushes set on the ground.

"Yeah!" Ayumi, Yuuki, Karina, and Aya called out. They were the more eager ones. Azusa and Saki had tagged along with less eagerness.

"Hey! Running simultaneously is dangerous!" Azusa warned.

Soon enough, all of them slipped on their feet and slid out of control across the pool's floor.

Further down, Erich was also scrubbing down the pool, but he wasn't doing it with much enthusiasm, or even with a smile. He had on a pouty face as he begrudgingly scrubbed away.

' _I hate this,_ ' he thought. ' _Why did Miho have to use her puppy eyes on me? She's far better at this anyway!_ '

" _Bubi!_ Watch out!" he heard Miho call out, and he snapped out of his thoughts as he looked back behind him.

" _Hä?_ " was all he could say before he was met with the six freshmen girls slamming into him feet and ass first. All of those involved in the collision eventually came to a halt spread out over the floor of the pool entangled with each other. They all had varying degrees of dazes, as well.

"Are you all right?!" Miho continued as she came down to help. " _Bubi?!_ Girls?!"

All seven crash victims were soon pulled out of the pool and tended to. Lemu beat Miho to the freshmen girls as he immediately started berating them. The girls were all on their knees with their heads hung in shame as they took the berating. Miho, in the meantime, chose to look after her blonde knight.

"So much... _Arsch..._ " Erich commented still in a daze.

Miho smacked him to not only knock him out of his daze, but also as punishment for him even thinking of saying such a thing. "Hey, you can only think about _my Arsch_ like that, got it?" she sternly said.

"Then give me your _Arsch,_ " Erich responded as he lazily reached for Miho's ass.

He was met with another smack from his girlfriend. "Not now!" she retorted now with a blush on her face as she looked away flustered. "... Well, maybe for a little bit while we're here, if I like your behavior..."

XXXXXXXXXX

In the meanwhile, Lemu was still berating the freshmen girls. Kolari and Satiainen were behind him as well. All three of them were wearing standard school swimsuits similar to what the Public Morals Committee girls were wearing, but slightly changed for their particular measurements and usage. As such, they all had name tags with their nicknames on them, those being Lemu, Kolari, and Satiainen. They also had their armbands still on.

"Jeez, you're all way too hyper!" Lemu continued with his berating. "Anyway, what's up with those swimsuits? There's a properly designated-"

"Um, on your chest..." Ayumi pointed out as she interrupted. All of the girls were still on their knees.

"Huh?" Lemu responded in confusion. He then looked to his chest, and he grew shocked. "What?! Oh, I bet Faul did this! According to the school rules, the last name should be on the label! 'Mulberry' should be written here! Be sure to get it right, guys!"

The girls formerly being berated were now giggling a bit at the current scene of Lemu growing angry. Their hands were raised up close to their mouths as well.

"God! Screw you! I had to go through all that because of you!" Lemu angrily spoke to David as he walked over to where David was sleeping. He then sat down beside him.

"It's hot, Lemu," David remarked as he wiped his arm across his forehead. He didn't really care for Lemu's current mood.

"Yeah, since it's summer..." Lemu absentmindedly replied. He then turned to David with a start. "Wait, don't call me Lemu!" he snapped.

"Would you lend me that sunshade of yours?" David asked as he lazily reached for Lemu's armband.

"That's my arm!" Lemu barked at David in response.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, Erich," Nevi quietly spoke up. Erich heard and turned to find Nevi along with his gamer buds in some swim trunks as they came through the corridor to the pool.

"Ah, hey Neville," Erich greeted with his typical smile. He was back to normal after being slammed by the girls of _Rabbit_ Team.

"Sorry for being late," Nevi apologized. "It's the first time I've been outside in so long, so it took some motivation on my end to get down here."

"Don't worry about it," Erich waved off. "It's great that you showed up anyways."

"Man, I haven't been to a pool in almost a decade," Dexter remarked.

"Me, neither!" Mark agreed. "I haven't been out in the sun like this for about twelve years, give or take."

"If we didn't take up _Jägermeistern,_ " Nevi began with a smile as the three walked forth into the sun's rays, "this once in a lifetime chance..."

As they entered the sunlight, all three of the gamer guys immediately collapsed onto the ground face first.

"Guys?" Erich asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Impossible," Dexter declared.

"I'm sorry, Erich," Nevi apologized.

"It's useless..." Mark determined.

Soon, the Public Morals Committee came and took the three gamer guys to a designated relief area. It was an area covered with a large shade with the 'Relief' label hanging down from the edge on a slip of paper.

"It's already 'game over,'" Nevi spoke up as he and his gamer buds lied in the shade with the three gamer girls plus David and Mako. The latter two were sleeping again. Kolari and Satiainen were apparently standing guard in the area.

"You're retiring too early again!" Lemu berated the gamer guys. "Mr. Faul, wake up!"

XXXXXXXXXX

During that time, many of the other members of _Anglerfish_ and _Messer_ Teams were still scrubbing the pool.

"It's hot," Anton complained as he leaned on his deck brush. "It'll take forever at the rate we're going..."

Anton then took notice of Hana doing something. She was practicing flower arranging again, but this time with weeds and a couple of deck brushes. Hana then noticed Anton looking on at her doings.

"Anton, it's not like that!" she nervously spoke up as she turned around to face Anton. "I just got all excited after seeing the weeds... By the way, the title is 'Stillness of the Deck Brush!'"

"Nathan, go all out on it," Anton granted with an iron face.

Nathan then whipped out some beefy hedge cutters with a wicked grin as he approached the arrangement.

"Please stop!" Hana cried out as she reached out to try and stop Nathan. Anton held her back, though. "The flowers and weeds are innocent!" She threw all her effort to break free from Anton's grip one last time to save her arrangement, but Anton was still able to hold her back. "There are flowers here that bloom nowhere else!"

"Don't use iconic phrases!" Nathan retorted.

"So what, we came here today to trim them?" Anton asked as he held Hana back.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Nathan had finished laying waste to the flower arrangement, as evidenced by Hana shedding tears and sniffling. Anton, however, looked pleased by the arrangement being destroyed as he smiled.

"Right, right, we're stepping up the pace," Aprikose lazily spoke up as he ate another jerky strip.

"You guys!" Pfirsich barked as he pointed at Anton and Hana. "If you don't get this done by today, know that-oof!"

Pfirsich was cut off after being hit with an uppercut by a deck brush. The source of the hit was from the four history guys combating each other. They were all in swimsuits that fitted with their typical outfits.

"Open the gun ports!" Wolf declared as he wielded a hose with a spray nozzle fitted. He had on his peaked cap plus a pair of dissolvable swim trunks that were _Feldgrau_ in color. " _Feuer!_ " he said as he opened fire with his weapon.

"Too weak!" Leonidas retorted as he dodged the incoming stream. He also wielded a hose with a spray nozzle. He had on some light armor around the waist that created a skirt of sorts. It was flexible enough, though, to act as clothing.

"You guys..." Pfirsich grumbled as he recovered from being hit as well as from being forced back.

"Yeah, here's Abe!" Abe declared as he wielded a deck brush like a rifle equipped with a bayonet. He was wearing a black 19th century-style swimsuit. "If you desire prompt and utter destruction, then come at me!"

" _Gott mit Uns!_ " Gustav called out as he charged Abe with his own deck brush in a bayonet charge-like manner. He was in swim trunks that were colored blue and had a yellow stripe going up each side. " _Anfalla!_ "

"Cut it out!" Pfirsich yelled out as he tried to intervene. However, he was only met with the brush end of deck brushes as Gustav and Abe both swung and took him down with great force behind their attacks.

"Hit something worthless _again..._ " both Gustav and Abe remarked less than pleased after observing their handiwork.

" _Attans,_ " Gustav additionally cursed.

"Hey, you alright Pfirsich?" Zitrus asked as he helped out Pfirsich.

"Well he would've lost to _der Löwe aus Mitternacht,_ anyway," Aprikose remarked with a look that said he didn't really see anything wrong with the current situation.

"Well, now that we've played around to our heart's content," Wolf began, "it's about time to start cleaning. _Männer!_ "

He then noticed all of his fellow history buffs staring at him. "Hm?" he asked. "What?"

The others were staring at him because of his current lack of swim trunks. His swim trunks had dissolved during their fight.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey look, Galland!" Wolf called out with his confident grin. He now had a towel wrapped around his waist after his swim trunks dissolved. "Those German dissolvable swim trunks really do dissolve in water! I heard that the bands would melt and get loose first, but I was already nude once I noticed!"

"That's awesome, Wolf!" Nathan energetically replied.

In the meanwhile, Lemu was getting increasingly frustrated at the current state of events. He soon rounded up those responsible for the latest disturbance and began scolding them hard.

"Why am I included?" Pfirsich muttered as he suffered through Lemu's berating alongside the history buffs.

"Jeez, I can't leave this to you!" Lemu ended as he took out a whistle.

He then blew the whistle, and on demand, several members of the Public Morals Committee surrounded the pool. Lemu was still in the center of the pool with Erich's group. The ones not in the committee looked on at the committee's massive number of members. All of the members had styles that matched those of either Lemu or Sodoko depending on the gender.

"Public Morals Committee members, assemble!" Lemu ordered as all of the members stood at attention. "Begin the cleaning!"

All members of the Public Morals Committee then began efficiently scrubbing down the pool as the rest of the students there looked on from out of the pool.

"The Public Morals Committee has a total strength of over two hundred members," Herz noted with a grin as Erich's and Miho's groups of friends looked on together. "They'll be done with this in a breeze!"

"Yeah, looks like it," Erich commented. Miho had chosen to sit atop his lap as she looked on with a smile unique to her. Erich supported her with his arms around her stomach.

"Seeing Lemu like this feels bad," David commented in his monotone.

"God, David," Anton exasperated at his friend's insinuation.

"Great work, Public Morals Committee!" Nathan and Yukari cheered.

"You guys just sit there and watch wistfully!" Lemu ordered with a satisfied grin. He then pointed up to David. "Especially Dafa!"

"Yeah, yeah," David replied without really caring. "Sure, whatever."

"You better be grateful to the Public Morals Committee members!"

Aprikose chuckled a bit mischievously as he and the rest of the student council looked on. "Just as planned," he commented with a predatory grin.

"Really now?!" Saori yelled out in frustration upon seeing the student council conspiring again.

"Great work, Mr. President," Pfirsich complimented with a similar grin as Aprikose.

Aprikose then stepped forth. "Now then!" he began as he performed some stretches. "Guys, are you ready to rumbleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!"

Practically everyone erupted into cheers in majority agreement.

"Wai-What?!" Lemu began in surprise from the pool with the rest of the Public Morals Committee members. "Shouldn't you ask for my consent regarding this?!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Over at the hangars concurrently, the aeronautics guys were fixing up the F4F.

"Hurry and get done with this so we can join the others," Brown stated with implied eagerness to get going.

"Just a little more..." Yeager said as he continued wrenching.

"I've got my swim trunks on underneath to cut down changing time," Brown continued as he ruffled his coverall's legs, which revealed some thicker clothing underneath them.

"But we'd have to help with cleaning if we get there too early," Yeager reminded as he pulled away and got down from the F4F with a wrench in hand. "Taking it easy is fine."

"Actually, I've got my swimwear on, too," Dittmar commented as he patted his coverall's legs. "Hey, let's get the jet ski out of the warehouse! I want to try doing a roll with it!"

"It'd be an even greater feat considering there aren't any waves!" Reitsch commented.

"No way," Yeager denied. "That thing can't be ridden in a pool that size, let alone pull a roll there." He then took notice of someone walking nearby wearing a backpack with a few long rolls of paper sticking out of it. "Hm?" he wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, did you get lost?" Yeager chose to call out to the person. The person stopped with a bit of nervousness. "Is something wrong?"

The person then turned around, and now observable was that they were wearing some brown trousers with a belt plus a dark gray button-up shirt. The person also had some ear buds on along with some sunglasses that had a small camera attached to one corner. The glasses were also equipped with a fake nose. The person's physical appearance consisted of black hair. Their eyes couldn't be seen through the glasses.

"O-Oh, yes!" they began in what was distinguishable as an American male voice. "I'm just an American who loves _Jägermeistern!_ "

In his thoughts, the new guy chuckled briefly in a mischievous manner before thinking, ' _A perfect disguise! I'm so amazing! I'll return the disgrace by revealing all of Ooarai's classified information!_ ' In his thoughts, it was also noticeable that he had brown eyes. As his voice revealed, he definitely had an American appearance.

' _Suspicious,_ ' all of the aeronautics guys thought as they looked on at the newcomer.

XXXXXXXXXX

What is the true color of this shady character? Continued in the next arc!

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	19. Kapitel 4,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Vier: Mehr Sommer in Ooarai!_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Ein überladener, verdächtiger Amerikaner_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Hey there, eh! Nathan McBraun here from _Projekt Jägermeistern's_ newest installment, _The Legends Still Live On!_ Here's what happened from the last chapter!

Since it's summer, we cleaned out the pool! But in the end, it was all the members of the Public Morals Committee who finished the job! Also, a suspicious American arrived.

And now here's the rest of what happened!

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Oh, nice!" Dittmar commented. The aeronautics guys were now at the pool as well in their swim trunks.

"Oh, looks like they're done with the pool!" Brown noted as he looked around the area.

"That aside," Yeager began as he spoke with Aprikose. He gestured to the new arrival that was currently looking around the area with great intent. "This guy was way too suspicious-looking, so we brought him along with us."

"Nicely done!" Aprikose congratulated as he flashed a thumbs-up gesture.

"Wait, this is...!" the new arrival began but trailed off to himself as he saw everyone.

Ron was jumping into the pool from the high fence nearby with a lot of adrenaline flowing through him. Lemu was trying to berate him for the action, but he couldn't dissuade Ron at his current levels of energy.

In the meantime, all but two of Erich's and Miho's friends were having fun with each other in the water. It was notable that Nathan and Yukari were in full special ops scuba gear. Miho and Erich themselves were off alone with each other elsewhere in the pool. Miho had wrapped her body around Erich's torso yet again, and so Erich supported her by holding onto her ass as he was subject to Miho playing around with him in a suggestive manner.

Over still in the relief area were all of the gamers plus David and Mako. Mako had moved so as to sleep while lying across all of the girls of _Anteater_ Team, and David had similarly moved so he way laying across all of the guys for _Blitz-Sieben_ as he slept on. David also had a foot he was pressing against Mark's face during his sleep.

Abe was currently swimming through the pool with haste, but Gustav zoomed past on a snowmobile fitted with paddle-like tracks. He was able to drive over the surface of the water with said tracks as long as he stayed mobile, hence his current high speed.

The two sports groups were playing a very aggressive game of beach ball within the water. Nearby were also the freshmen groups messing around with each other, excluding Matthias and Azusa. The two of them simply looked on at their fellow freshmen, unable to do anything about them.

Up outside of the pool, Wolf and Leonidas were relaxing in the sun along with Erwin and Caesar. They were all habitually making historical references with each other again.

' _They're just fucking around in the water!_ ' the newcomer, otherwise observable as Ray in disguise, thought in a bit of anger.

"But first, the investigation..." Ray began to himself as he started furiously writing down things in a small pocket book. "These guys may consider this a ritual!"

Currently observing him from a short distance was the student council, and they all came to similar conclusions of the 'new' American.

"He's a spy," Zitrus determined with a smile.

"Yup, a spy," Aprikose agreed.

"Definitely a spy," Pfirsich also concluded with his more iron-like face. The three girls nodded in agreement with the conclusion.

Anzu then turned to everyone else at the pool. "Hey, boys!" she began. "Now that you're all warmed up, let's start with the game!"

"Already done with gymnastics?" one person wondered upon seeing Anzu finally done with her stretches.

"What?!" Ray reacted as he quickly turned to face Anzu during her announcement.

"What game are they playing?" Miho asked.

"Hm..." Anzu thought as she raised her finger to her chin. She then held up said finger as she came to a conclusion. "How about they have a cavalry battle first? It'll be plenty exciting."

XXXXXXXXXX

Eventually, the first cavalry battle was set to begin. It was _Orkan-Drei_ versus _Wildkatze-Fünf._

"The time has come!" Ron proclaimed with great adrenaline. He was atop the rest of the badminton players that currently supported him. He himself also had a white band around his forehead.

"W-W-We're totally up for this, but..." Matthias began with a nervous look. He was atop his fellow freshmen boys as they supported him. He also had a white band around his forehead. "There's this really strong aura..."

"Are there humans that can win against _that?_ " Julius wondered with some of his own nervousness. The other freshmen also had varying levels of nervousness at the sight of their opponents.

"Uh..." Erich said from up outside the pool as he watched two of his pilots stare each other down. Ron was very clearly winning the stare-down. Erich himself also had a microphone in one hand.

He then looked to Miho who had come up behind him. "I was going to sing something fitting, but..." he trailed off as Miho wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself against his back.

"I think it's best to let that go for now," Miho suggested with a smile as she relaxed against her blonde knight.

" _Au, fick das!_ I don't care how this ends!" Matthias proclaimed with a renewed vigor. He then pointed forward. " _Start!_ "

" _Hurra!_ " Erik and Julius cried out in a similar vigor as the freshmen team advanced forward to their foes.

"Don't underestimate us _erste Jahre!_ " Mesut taunted.

"Let's beat them to death!" Christoph called out in similar motivation. Bastian just went along with everyone in his usual silent manner.

In response, the badminton guys lifted Ron up into the air and tossed him at the freshmen. "Serve's up!" they called out.

As Ron flew through the air and tumbled through it, some people offered comment.

"They threw him?!"

"What is this, gymnastics?!"

"Isn't that wrong?"

"Amazing turn!"

"He's coming down!"

"Ah!" all of the freshmen reacted as Ron landed straight in the middle of the group and took Matthias down underwater with him.

Ron soon surfaced with something in hand. "I got it!" he called out.

What he had grabbed were Matthias' swim trunks. Matthias was, predictably, staying under the waterline while the rest of the freshmen floated around in a daze.

Momo blew a whistle to end the fight. She and Anzu were both serving as referees.

"Yeah, _Orkan-Drei_ loses due to foul play," Anzu determined in her carefree manner.

As such, _Orkan-Drei_ was disqualified while _Wildkatze-Fünf_ was beyond recovery.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Fuck, we were careless again!" Ron said with great displeasure when he and the other badminton guys got out. Ron still had Matthias' swim trunks in hand for some reason. Many of those around them started chanting, "Muscle-brains" at the four of them in a derisive manner.

Meanwhile, the disguised Ray was writing things down in his small pocket book.

"The strange pilot that managed to surpass the catalog specs of the Ki-10!" he remarked to himself as he continued writing. "To think that this monster is the one flying it... The rumors of the F4F having leeway are also true!"

Ray then looked to the crew of _Blitz-Sieben._ He found all of them still lying down out of the sun's rays, so he dismissed them and walked away. Nevi, however, sat up and looked at Ray walking away in confusion.

"Given the situation, the greatest threat is the Me 410's crew!" Ray determined to himself as he adjusted his glasses. He then paid his attention to the next fight coming up. It was _Hornisse-Vier_ versus _Komet-Acht._

"Our time has come, too!" Abe declared. He and the other history guys were currently pushing a Gatling gun to the pool. The other three besides Abe were clearly struggling with pushing the heavy gun, but Abe continued on anyways with vigor. He also had the white band around his forehead. "To the front! Let me hear your battle cr-!"

He was interrupted when the four finally pushed the Gatling gun into the pool, but all of them were dragged down with it to the bottom as well.

"What luck," Dittmar observed upon seeing _Hornisse-Vier_ self-destruct. He and the other aeronautics guys were supporting Yeager, who had the white band around his forehead.

"So is that an unearned win for us?" Yeager asked.

Ray was looking on in a stunned state at how the fight went.

XXXXXXXXXX

Eventually, Ray recovered in time for the next fight.

"Up next is the most important target for investigation," Ray determined to himself. "The Bf 109 pilot!"

The next fight was _Messer-Ein_ versus _Stürmer-Sechs._

During the preparations for the coming fight, the crew for the Bf 109 was mounting up in their arrangement. David was being supported by the other four as he wore the white band around his forehead. Erich was at the front of the arrangement.

"David, you good?" Anton asked.

"Yeah," David replied in his monotone.

"Are you awake this time?" Erich asked with his calm smile.

"More importantly... sorry," David continued as he grew a sick look. "I'm super scared of high places."

"But you're always up high off the ground with our vehicles!" Anton retorted.

Erich's group then quickly realized the Public Morals Committee group charging for them.

"You're wide open, Mr. Faul!" Lemu taunted. He was being supported by Kolari and Satiainen plus one of the other committee members. Lemu also had the white band around his forehead.

"Three steps, _Mahlzeit!_ " Erich quickly ordered as he entered his commander mindset.

The arrangement obeyed and moved three steps back to their five o'clock. This forced Lemu's group to overshoot and miss with their attack.

"Perform evasive while flanking and cut in!" Erich ordered next. The arrangement maneuvered as such to flank Lemu's group.

"Increase speed, five steps forward!" Erich ordered next. The arrangement obeyed and started closing with the enemy. "Herz, faster!"

Soon, Erich's group got close enough. " _Jetzt!_ Nathan, throw David upwards!" Erich ordered.

The group accordingly launched David directly toward Lemu. "David, _angriff!_ " Erich ordered.

Lemu tried to reach for David's white band while David flew through the air and closed with him with similar intent. Both soon splashed down into the water as the rest of David's team looked on in anticipation.

Soon, both rose to the surface, and David had managed to rip off Lemu's white band.

"Winner: _Messer-Ein!_ " Anzu announced the result.

"Ma-Magnificent..." Lemu commented in a dazed manner as he and David lied in the water.

"Thanks..." David responded in a similar manner.

"Yeah! That was awesome, _Bubi!_ " Nathan congratulated as he and Erich shared a high-five.

"I couldn't have done it without you guys," Erich replied with his calm smile. "And Miho's suggestions were very helpful, as well."

"Stop being so humble, Erich, and be proud of _yourself_ for once!" Herz responded.

"That was great, _Bubi!_ That was so amazing!" Anton congratulated.

"I'm grateful..." David moaned out as he floated back to the other four. He was still in a daze.

As Erich's group made its way to the pools edge and Miho jumped in after her lover, Ray was still taking notes in his small pocket book.

' _Erich-Dietrich Hartmann..._ ' he thought as he looked on at Erich's group. By now, Miho was giving Erich a congratulatory kiss as the two embraced each other. ' _... And Miho Nishizumi... As I thought. These two seem to be the key for their forces!_ '

"Hey, spy-no, wait... Hey, _Ami!_ " Aprikose called out.

Ray stopped with a start and turned to him in response. "Wha-What is it?!" he replied on edge.

"Since our team doesn't have enough members..." Aprikose began.

At the same time, Pfirsich and Zitrus began stripping Ray down out of his disguise down to his boxers. He still kept his fake glasses, though, which prevented him from being recognized in his mind.

"Huh?" was all Ray could react with during the strip-down.

"Would you mind helping us out?" Aprikose ended his request.

XXXXXXXXXX

Eventually, the final battle was ready to begin.

"The final will be a battle royale among both the winning teams and, making an entrance from above, _Würger-Zwei!_ " Anzu announced from the poolside.

All of the involved teams, that being _Komet-Acht, Messer-Ein,_ and _Würger-Zwei,_ were already mounted up into their arrangements. Aprikose was the bearer of the white band for his group, as were Yeager and Nathan for their groups.

"Hey, I'm not too heavy for you guys, right?" Nathan asked those supporting him from below.

"No, you're good," Erich replied.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Yeager began with his group, and they all listened in.

Ray was looking on in the meantime from the front of Aprikose's group. ' _Now that things have come to this..._ ' Ray thought. ' _I have to get back to safety somehow!_ '

"Let the finals begin," Satiainen declared. From beside him, Kolari blew the whistle to begin the fight from the poolside. Behind them in the relief area were David and Lemu. They were still in a daze from their fight earlier.

"Um..." Ray began as he looked around and assessed the situation. "First we should-"

"Left!" Aprikose ordered as he kicked Ray in the left side of his back.

"Ouch!" Ray reacted.

"Don't you know? That's how you signal a turn," Aprikose revealed with a raised finger.

"Just say either left or right!" Ray barked as he looked back at Aprikose. "I can hear you perfectly fine anyway!"

"Hey, _Messer-Ein,_ " Yeager whispered over to Erich. Their groups were close to each other for now.

Erich looked over in response as he listened.

"You want to smash the student council first?" Yeager suggested with a conspiring grin.

" _Verstanden,_ " Erich replied with a similar grin. He then called out, " _Start!_ "

"Oh, here they come," Aprikose remarked without a care as the two enemy groups charged forth to his.

"Fuck!" Ray cursed in slight panic as he also saw the enemies.

"Get ready!" Erich ordered his alliance. Nathan and Yeager got into position to lean down toward the water.

Upon getting closer, both of them called out, "Take their vision away with water!"

" _Unternehmen Spritzen!_ " Erich declared at the same time.

Nathan and Yeager concurrently swept their arms up and splashed a great amount of water toward the student council group.

"Guh!" Ray reacted as most of the water hit him.

"Say, Lemu..." David began at the recovery area. Both he and Lemu were still recovering from their fight.

"What?" Lemu replied.

"Now that we've done a cavalry battle, I heard that the game that leaves the most dripping is water polo."

"Hmm..." Lemu said as he listened.

"... Well, not like that matters for us anyway," David ended with a grin.

"Leave me alone!" Lemu complained.

"Fucking stop already!" Ray barked at everyone in anger from his point in the pool.

Everyone stopped their doings and stared at him in silence.

"... Huh?" Ray said. His glasses were no longer on his face, and his identity was plainly revealed to everyone there, as their stares indicated.

"It's a fucking spy!" Anton finally declared with anger as he pointed at Ray. "From Saunders!"

"Why don't I show you the way of a _true_ spy, eh?" Nathan taunted as he cracked his knuckles. "After all, you guys never detected me!"

"A spy you say?!" Ron spoke up as he and the badminton players came dashing towards Ray ready to perform flying kicks.

"Beat him to death!" Christoph proclaimed as he wielded two tombstones as weapons.

"Get that coward!" Abe ordered as he aimed the Gatling gun at Ray.

" _Förstått!_ " Gustav confirmed as he charged forth toward Ray with a Carolean sword at the ready.

Meanwhile, Erik and Matthias were also charging forth to Ray to help beat him down.

Ray was looking around in great panic as he tried figuring out what to do.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ah!" Ray grunted sometime later.

He was by now completely tied up in rope by Pfirsich. He predictably had injuries from the beat-down he suffered.

"Abide by the _Jägermeistern_ regulations with your treatment of POWs!" Ray stubbornly insisted. Pfirsich tightened up the ropes a bit to silence him.

"Shut it!" the PR Rep barked. "Now start walking!"

As he started on a forced march, Ray determinedly muttered, "I'll make it back alive for sure! Once I pass on this intel to Saunders..."

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the rest of the Saunders crew was relaxing at the pool as well. All of the Americans were in their swimwear. They all had sunglasses with them, too, but only a few were wearing them for now. Alisa was silent for the time as she sunbathed with her sunglasses over her eyes.

"Wait, what?" Kay wondered as she lied on her stomach under a sun umbrella. "What's with this spy uproar? I don't like this, Christian."

"It doesn't concern us, Kay," Christian replied from beside her sitting up. He was in a black pair of swim trunks with his sunglasses up on his forehead. He was applying sunscreen to Kay's back. "We should just enjoy the summer."

"No, that's not it," Chuck spoke up from nearby as he removed his pair of sunglasses from his eyes. He and Naomi were standing up as they looked on at something ahead. Chuck had some swim trunks styled with the Stars and Stripes of America's flag. "It's that geek looking over here. Naomi, is he an acquaintance of yours?"

"Hey, what are you saying there?" Naomi retorted with a grin. "I may have a lot of boyfriends, but I'd never approach a spy kid."

Kay and Chuck both unleashed huge bouts of laughter as Naomi and Christian shrugged off in a dismissive way with grins. Alisa chose not to intervene as she continued her sunbathing. In front of them way Ray who was still tied up and currently seething in rage.

"Goddammit!" Ray loudly yelled out in frustration.

"Normally it'd be Kay or Chuck that would invite us," Erich noted with a smile as he stood by Miho.

"Well, let's get back to playing!" Anzu proclaimed. "After all, summer has just begun!"

And so it still continues, this time with the swimsuit round.

XXXXXXXXXX

Throughout the day, everyone was still hanging out at the pool, which now included the Saunders crowd.

"Huh?" Matthias wondered. He was in the water with Erik. "Isn't the pool water kind of salty?"

"Ah, about that..." Zitrus began from up on the ground. Also there were Aprikose who was eating another jerky strip plus Christoph and Julius, who were currently messing around with a still tied-up Ray.

"We had to mix in just a bit of seawater due to our limited budget," Zitrus informed. "Sorry about that."

"Isn't it fine?" Aprikose spoke up with a jerky strip in hand. "It's just like a pool in a coastland hotel."

"Well no wonder it's easier to float here," Harry commented as he and Alex floated relaxedly on their backs.

"That's right," Alex agreed.

Soon enough, both Seth and Ron came with racquets in hand and shuttlecocks in their eyes as they both smashed Harry and Alex over their heads.

"Ouch!" both of those hit cried out as they sunk under the water.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, Sodoko was in the pool in a daze. Mako and David were watching her from the poolside.

"Ah, it's hot..." Sodoko began. "I wonder if I should go head-first into the water."

"Why don't you?" David asked.

In response, Sodoko bent over and entered the water head first. Soon enough, her helmet-like hair started to float away from her body, and David and Mako grew alarmed at the sight.

They both shot up and started covering up the scene from the poolside by spreading out their bodies as they kept an eye out for anyone looking at the scene.

"Sodoko!" Mako began in alarm. "We'll keep quiet about this, so hurry!"

"Hurry and put it back on!" David spoke up.

Under the water, Sodoko was still fully together. It was just Pazomi who was swimming through with her own helmet hair above the water.

' _Underwater clone technique!_ ' Sodoko thought with a triumphant smirk.

XXXXXXXXXX

"That looks interesting!" Mesut commented. He and the freshmen boys were with Gustav and his paddle-tracked snowmobile.

"Can I look at it?" Christoph asked with some eagerness.

"Hmm..." Gustav entered thought. "Want to try riding it?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon enough, Christoph was in the pool piloting around Gustav's snowmobile.

"Wow, awesome Chris!" Matthias cheered from the poolside.

"Yeah!" Christoph whooped as he rode along.

"Man, he's doing good," Gustav commented.

Soon, though, Christoph wiped out and went under with the snowmobile. The others at the poolside looked on in alarm.

" _Jäklar!_ " Gustav cursed as he immediately dove in with Mesut and Julius to rescue Christoph and the snowmobile.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later after sorting out the mess with the snowmobile, Christoph, Erik, and Julius were hanging out at the poolside.

"Hey, what's that?" Christoph wondered as he saw something begin poking out of the water. As the object continued climbing out of the water, the freshmen saw it as looking like a monster. "Uwah! A person!"

"What's this?!" Julius similarly reacted.

Soon, the person fully emerged, and the 'monster' was revealed as just being Nekota with water dripping down her body and hair.

"Oh, my," Erik began. The freshmen no longer appeared terrified after seeing who it was that emerged.

"It's like a monster movie!" Christoph proclaimed.

Julius laughed for a bit before he remarked, "It's like a dream!"

"Ah, it's Nekonya!" Erik identified. "Amazing!"

' _They got it,_ ' Nekota thought with a smile as she put her glasses back on. ' _Thank goodness._ '

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the freshmen were messing around again within the pool. Christoph, Erik, and Julius were on a large float decorated like a shark. Christoph was at the front with Erik behind and Julius hanging off the side at the rear.

"Hey, excuse us for a moment," Yeager pardoned as he and Dittmar approached the rear of the float. Dittmar had a small rocket in hand. The rocket was similar in size to a firecracker.

"What?" Erik wondered in confusion along with Christoph.

"A rocket?" Julius observed similarly.

"We'll be done quickly," Dittmar assured as he mounted the rocket up to the rear of the float. Yeager also had a wrench out.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the three freshmen were seen on the float that was now roaring through the water at high speed. Julius was at the rear hanging on for dear life.

Upon reaching the end of the pool, the float skipped up out of the pool and into the air. The freshmen aboard were also propelled into the air.

"Oh, boy," Yeager observed the scene with the rest of the aeronautics guys. He himself had a hand on the back of his head. "I think I overdid it again..."

"Make sure you check the thrust levels next time," Brown spoke up.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Chuck was looking on at Yeager who had now come out of the water. Yeager had already finished getting the freshmen out of trouble.

"You're not from Saunders, are you?" Chuck asked him.

"No, I'm from Ooarai, remember?" Yeager replied.

"Hmm..." Chuck hummed as he meticulously inspected Yeager with his eyes. He noted how he seemed awfully similar to himself in appearance, almost like a long-lost relative. But Chuck knew that Yeager was not related to him. He would've recognized him if he was.

"Why?" Chuck eventually spoke up with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Yeager wondered in confusion.

' _You're both Americans anyway, Chuck..._ ' Aprikose thought as he looked on at the scene from further away. He was relaxed with his arms behind his head.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in the pool, Erich was participating in some beach ball fun with his and Miho's friends before he noticed a spray of water pass by him. Miho looked to the source behind him in curiosity.

Erich also turned around to find the source of the spray. It was Christian who was holding two water guns modeled after M1903 Springfields.

"You're the pilot of the 109, right?" Christian spoke up as he twirled one of the rifles with his right hand. He also was chewing on some more bubble gum. "From the first match."

Erich was confused, but he nodded anyway.

In response, Christian tossed the rifle in his left hand over. Erich caught it, but he was still confused.

Christian popped the bubble he had blown with his gum as he grew a competitive grin. "Let's party!" he said as he cycled his Springfield's bolt.

"Oh, so _that's_ what this is about," Erich realized as he evaded Christian's first spray. While she looked on, Miho raised her hands to her mouth as she gasped. She soon hopped out of the pool and ran off to get help.

"Man, you don't give up, do you?" Erich calmly remarked as he maneuvered through the water and evaded Christian's next two sprays. He evaded two more sprays from him as he cycled his own Springfield's bolt.

He then took advantage of Christian having to reload after he ran out of water. Erich quickly lined up a shot and fired a single spray of water.

"Guh!" Christian reacted as he was struck directly in the face.

XXXXXXXXXX

After hearing of the fight, Miho and Anton were running along the poolside to Christian and Erich.

"Wait, so there's a bad mood between Christian and _Bubi?_ " Anton wondered as he followed Miho.

"Yes!" Miho replied. "Christian may have started it, but... Well, now they're having a silent shoot out..."

She trailed off as she and Anton arrived at the poolside to find that Erich and Christian had laid their guns off to the side. The two were now talking with each other. They soon laughed a bit as they slung an arm around each other like old friends would.

"So what am I looking at here?" Anton wondered at a loss.

"... Um..." Miho replied at a similar loss as she watched her lover getting along just fine with Christian, as if nothing ever happened.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Thanks for calling us over, Miho and Erich!" Kay thanked Ooarai's two commanders later that day. She and Chuck plus Miho and Erich were sitting on two beach chairs, one for each pair of commanders. They were all still in their swimwear.

"Yeah!" Chuck agreed. "Having something fresh like this pool once in a while is nice!"

"'Like this?'" Miho wondered about the choice of words in a bit of confusion as she lied against Erich's side.

"Well you should know that every house in Saunders comes with a pool!" Chuck elaborated. "Or a jacuzzi!"

"No way," Aprikose remarked as he held his arms behind his head while relaxing nearby.

"You're boasting!" Pfirsich accused. "Damn bourgeois!"

"There's also a garden where we can have a barbecue..." Kay continued in a carefree manner.

"We can do that much on our grounds, too!" Pfirsich insisted.

"No, we can't!" Lemu retorted.

"And there are also some paranormal activities happening..." Chuck continued wearing a glazed look mixed with a grin.

"Man, the CIA follows you _that_ far?" Erich wondered offhandedly.

"Anywho!" Chuck began as he snapped out of it and returned to normal. "It was fun today, you guys!"

"We had fun, too!" Miho returned with a smile typical of her.

"See you!" Chuck wished as he leaned closer to Miho's face.

"Ah..." Miho reacted as she froze up and blushed.

Before Chuck could close the distance, though, he was met with a hand wrapping around his throat and lifting him up to the level of a now pissed pair of blue eyes belonging to a certain blond-haired German ultra-ace. It looked somewhat comical given Chuck was somewhat taller in comparison.

"Did you not get the memo saying she was already taken?" Erich coldly stated to Chuck as he held him by the throat while standing. "If you had laid your lips on her, then just know that I would have already annihilated you by now." Erich then forcefully shoved Chuck back in the direction of the other Americans.

As Chuck regained his breath after being released, Kay looked on a bit awkwardly at the scene. "... Well, thanks for today, Miho," she eventually spoke up. "And sorry for, well... what just occurred... Anywho, see you!"

She and the other Americans then walked off. Kay was helping Chuck walk along as he still recovered from Erich's iron grip. Ray was hopping along with the group. He was hopping because he was still tied up completely.

Miho then turned to Erich as the Americans left the area. "Erm..." she began unsurely. "I want to say thank you for that, but at the same time, I don't like seeing people get hurt..."

Erich didn't respond for a bit before he sighed in defeat and hung his head a bit. "I know. I'm sorry, _Miholein,_ " he began. "I shouldn't have gotten so overprotective over you..."

Miho came forth and wrapped Erich in another embrace. "I'm not mad at you, _Bubi,_ " she assured with a calm smile. "I'm fine with you being protective of me. You have every right to be. But I just want you to know that you shouldn't resort to the kind of action you went to just now, okay?"

Erich soon cracked a smile as Miho leaned closer to him. "Alright," he replied.

Miho then softly kissed him in response, and Erich returned it.

"Man, it was almost like '90210' for a second there," Anzu remarked. She and Aprikose had witnessed the entire scene, which included the current scene of Erich and Miho kissing again.

"Well at least it didn't end up being like the Twilight saga," Aprikose spoke up.

Anzu smacked him upside the head in response. "Hey, that series is good! The ratings speak for themselves, so don't you dare deride it!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Even when Saunders comes over to play, it's a battle!

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	20. Kapitel 5,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünf: Es ist 'Die Teezeit von Gloriana!'_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Arthur Wahl_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Did you know this law? Pedestrians have priority on pedestrian crossings without signals.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _HMS Ark Royal,_ things were going relatively normally for the Saint Gloriana students. Or, in the case of their Arts of Warfare members, as normally as things could get.

"Sir Arthur!" Orange Pekoe cried out as she rushed toward a fountain, but she could not get there in time.

She had seen Arthur calmly fall back into one of the fountains with a cup of tea in hand. She couldn't get there before he went under the water. Both were currently in their Saint Gloriana school uniforms.

Soon, out of the water rose Assam in some angel-like clothing. Said clothing also included a halo above her head. She smiled as she pulled up two versions of Arthur with her arms. Both had cups of tea in hand, but one of them was gold while the other was silver. Orange Pekoe was looking on in a somewhat lost state upon seeing Assam in her current attire.

"Which one did you drop?" Assam the angel asked Orange Pekoe with her smile. "Was it this golden Sir Arthur, or this silver Sir Arthur?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Do I really have to choose one?" Orange Pekoe muttered sleepily.

She was currently in her bed sleeping. She had dreamed up the entire scenario from the comforts of her bed.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	21. Kapitel 5,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Fünf: Es ist 'Die Teezeit von Gloriana!'**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Fahren mit Herr Arthur**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

For the moment, Dennis and Douglas were waiting around together somewhere within a park. Both were in their school uniforms.

"He said that we were going on a drive, and for us to wait here since he'll come to pick us up," Dennis told Douglas as they waited.

"He told me the same thing," Douglas revealed. "I wonder if he's got a license now?" He then waved off with a hand. "Either way, I didn't know he could handle any other vehicles besides fighters and SPAAs."

"Dennis, Douglas, sorry to keep you waiting," the two heard Arthur coming up.

Dennis turned and greeted. "Ah, Sir Ar-"

He stopped upon noticing Arthur come alongside them atop a horse. He was in full horseback wear, as well.

"Shall we drive?" Arthur suggested with a smile and a two-fingered salute.

"Wait a minute!" Both Dennis and Douglas exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, didn't you know?" Arthur continued. "I got into horseback riding lately!" He then petted his horse along its mane. "This girl's name is 'Blue Mountain.'"

"That's a bloody coffee..." Dennis deadpanned. He soon recovered. "But that aside, horses can be dangerous. Do you know how to properly ride one?"

"Oh, how rude of you!" Arthur replied. "Behold my technique!" He then snapped the reins on his horse. "Hiya!" he proclaimed as he set off.

XXXXXXXXXX

About a minute later, the horse came back, but Arthur was no longer on it. Upon seeing he wasn't on it, Dennis and Douglas set off to find Arthur.

Soon enough, they found him hanging on a tree branch by the back of his coat. "What a blunder!" Arthur remarked with a smile, as if not caring about his current situation. "But even with setbacks like this, it's still fun."

"Please give us a break," Dennis lamented. Douglas had a similar expression.

"Oh, I know!" Arthur spoke up as he clapped his hands. "Since I talked about a drive, I have a way that includes proper seats for you, too! Now come on!"

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later, Arthur was using his horse to tow a carriage that had Dennis and Douglas as its passengers. The two passengers looked somewhat hypnotized as they sat there while Arthur chauffeured them.

Eventually, they got out onto the ship's roads, and they soon stopped at a stoplight. As they waited, the _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ belonging to Ooarai stopped alongside them at the light. For some reason, it was aboard the _HMS Ark Royal,_ and Erich was on the left of the gun with the rest of his friends crewing it. All were in their normal school attire.

Erich casually looked to his left before turning back. However, he turned back again to get a better look of the horse and carriage beside them.

' _I think I've seen everything now,_ ' Erich thought as he looked on in just a bit of bewilderment at the scene of Arthur chauffeuring around Dennis and Douglas with a horse and carriage.

Soon, though, Erich grew a competitive grin. He pointed forward up at the light ahead. He nodded to Arthur, and the Brit returned it with a similar grin as David revved up the _Maybach_ engine of the FAMO in preparation for the oddest of races.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	22. Kapitel 5,3

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünf: Es ist 'Die Teezeit von Gloriana!'_**

 ** _Kapitel Drei: Gloriana Romanze_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Blimey, that was a nice story!" Arthur remarked with a great smile. He had just finished reading a book, and he set it down on his desk. He was in his school uniform now.

"A novel?" Orange Pekoe wondered. She was also within Arthur's office at the moment. She was currently preparing some more tea within her school uniform.

"Indeed!" Arthur turned to reply, still with a smile. "It's a story of earnest love! The main protagonist enrolled into a certain international school after leaving his home country... he reunited with a very close female friend he had known for many years... those two close friends fell for each other while standing against their former countrymen and later the world's greatest to save their new home... Lady Pekoe? You wouldn't mind calling me your blonde knight, would you?"

"But you're not German..." Orange Pekoe muttered so Arthur wouldn't hear. She then shook her head to clear it before she addressed Arthur directly. "Are you sure you're well, Sir Arthur?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"So what's going on?" Douglas asked Orange Pekoe. The two were now in a hall speaking with each other later that day. Both of them had taken a glance back at the nearest corner and found Arthur peeking out from around the corner. Arthur, however, did not notice he had already been spotted as he looked on.

"It seems he's gotten influenced by _those_ kinds of novels," Orange Pekoe revealed.

"Huh?" Douglas wondered. He then raised his hand to his chin as he thought. "Hmm..." He then gained a sly grin. "By _those_ kinds, do you mean..."

He then moved his hands to Orange Pekoe's face and brought it closer to his. "Something like this, I wonder?" Douglas continued as the girl in his hands grew a blush at the contact.

"Aren't you making the situation even more complicated?" Orange Pekoe responded. Arthur was looking on from his place with a highly jealous face.

He soon had enough of the sight and came forth to Douglas and Orange Pekoe. "Hey!" he began with some anger. "Let go of my Orange Pekoe!"

"You have to be first to the fight to have the advantage!" Douglas retorted, still with his grin. He had separated his hands from Orange Pekoe, and said British girl now had a deadpan look as the scene continued on.

Eventually, both Arthur and Douglas grabbed onto opposing arms of Orange Pekoe and held her there for the moment.

"Hurry up and let go of that hand!" Arthur yelled at Douglas as he pulled Orange Pekoe his way.

"You're the one who should give up!" Douglas retorted as he pulled on Orange Pekoe as well. The British girl still had her deadpan look.

' _This is it!_ ' Arthur thought as he grew a grin. ' _Whoever lets go the moment she says 'It hurts' wins!_ '

' _Hurry up and say it, Orange Pekoe!_ ' Douglas similarly thought.

Orange Pekoe just sighed as she grabbed one of their arms with each hand. Summoning her strength as a loader, she then lifted them up into the air by their arms as she slammed them into each other's faces.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that day, Arthur was fully recovered from his earlier incident, and he had approached Orange Pekoe in a bit of a nervous manner.

"Orange Pekoe, um say..." he began with a nervous edge to his voice. Orange Pekoe chose to pay her attention to Arthur. "About what happened today after practice..."

"Isn't it fine, though, Sir Arthur?" Orange Pekoe replied. She then smiled a bit. "Even if for some odd reason you haven't realized it yet, I do like you, Sir Arthur. Could you please just be your usual self, like you always are?"

Arthur looked at her in surprise for a bit. A few seconds later, he grew a relaxed and relieved look as he stumbled back a bit.

"Huh?" Orange Pekoe wondered as she saw Arthur sway a bit. "Sir Arthur? Hello?"

From nearby, Douglas was watching the whole scene with an amused grin. He snorted at the sight of Arthur in a daze.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	23. Kapitel 5,4

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünf: Es ist 'Die Teezeit von Gloriana!'_**

 ** _Kapitel Vier: Dennis Augenbrauen_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

One day, as the Saint Gloriana crowd was eating one of their meals, Dennis was paying some more attention to his eyebrows using the reflection of his tea. Darjeeling noticed him and stopped her eating to address him.

"Is something the matter, Dennis?" she asked.

Dennis turned to her and kindly responded, "It's nothing really. I've just been getting a lot of comments from a number of girls about my eyebrows. I guess I've gotten just a bit more conscious of my appearance from that."

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Darjeeling told him with some more energy as she turned to him completely. "In fact, I think your eyebrows look really handsome!"

"Really?" Dennis asked with a bit of confusion at her current behavior.

"Yes, it's true!" Darjeeling then took two potato slices and brought them up to her eyebrows so as to somewhat mimic Dennis' eyebrows. "I'd even be fine if I could have eyebrows just like yours starting tomorrow!"

"I'll pass," Dennis replied with a deadpan as he saw Darjeeling become something she wasn't.

Darjeeling then turned to Orange Pekoe, still holding potato slices as her eyebrows. "Well how about we have matching eyebrows then, Orange Pekoe?!" she asked. "Wouldn't it be great considering your eyebrows are really cute?!"

"No thanks," Orange Pekoe replied in a similar deadpan as Dennis.

The others at the table, that being Arthur, Douglas, and Assam, simply rolled their eyes and sighed. None of them greatly appreciated seeing Darjeeling be the way she was currently.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	24. Kapitel 5,5

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Fünf: Es ist 'Die Teezeit von Gloriana!'**_

 _ **Kapitel Fünf: Dennis Wahl**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

During another instance by one of the fountains at the school, Darjeeling was rushing towards the edge of said fountain with her arm stretched out toward it. She was in her school uniform. "Dennis!" she cried out.

At the fountain itself, Dennis was in a daze, almost as if hypnotized, as he fell back into the water and sunk below the waterline. He was also in his school uniform.

Darjeeling then stopped at the edge as Assam rose above the surface of the water. Assam was in angel-like clothing as she brought up two versions of Dennis. One was golden while the other was silver.

"Which one did you drop?" Assam asked with a friendly smile. "Was it this golden Sir Dennis, or this silver Sir Dennis?"

"I'll take both!" Darjeeling proclaimed with a highly confident and determined smile as she held up a credit card of hers. "The whole batch!"

Assam looked on at Darjeeling with a confused look as Darjeeling walked off with a face similar to that of someone in an insane asylum carrying both versions of Dennis with her. The two versions of Dennis appeared to grow aware of what Darjeeling was planning for them as they raised their eyebrows.

XXXXXXXXXX

"This be the king's scepter!" Darjeeling remarked in her sleep. She had dreamed up the entire scenario in her bed. She slept on with a face like that of someone who had just performed 'the deed' and was eager for more.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	25. Kapitel 5,6

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Fünf: Es ist 'Die Teezeit von Gloriana!'**_

 _ **Kapitel Sechs: Dienerin Darjeeling**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Welcome home, master," Darjeeling greeted as she bowed. She was currently wearing a maid's outfit. "Do you know this saying?"

"Do you want dinner?" she began as she turned a bit away and stretched her arm toward to the person she was talking to.

"A bath?" she continued as she faced forward again and brought her hands together.

"Or perhaps..." Darjeeling continued as she winked and pointed up to her face.

"Darjeeling?" she ended while pouring a cup of tea, most likely Darjeeling tea.

She was apparently talking to both Dennis and Douglas. All of them were at an open door. The two boys were in their normal school uniforms as they looked on at Darjeeling with a blank look, almost as if hypnotized. They stood there for a few seconds before Dennis slammed the door and the two started away. Darjeeling grew a bit alarmed, but she quickly recovered and opened the double doors again.

"Oh my, Dennis," she began with an inviting look. "You don't have to be shy! Welcome! Don't hesitate and come on in!"

Dennis and Douglas simply groaned out a "What?" as they unwillingly turned back to face Darjeeling.

"Welcome to the maid Darjeeling's estate!" she beckoned as she spread out her arms to gesture to their current place. It was an English estate that currently had her Churchill Mk VII parked out front.

XXXXXXXXXX

A moment later, both Dennis and Douglas were seated at a table inside with on-edge looks as they looked around the place.

"I wondered what was going on after Lady Darjeeling called, but..." Dennis trailed off.

"I wonder what influenced her this time?" Douglas wondered.

"Did you know this saying?" Darjeeling began as she approached while pouring a cup of tea. "'One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.'"

"Schweitzer, wasn't it..." Dennis recalled. "For a moment I thought I was having a bad dream, but this is real. And what the heck is up with your outfit?"

"How is it? Does it suit me?" Darjeeling asked as she struck a pose with her outfit. "It's your 'Miss Maid,' the personification of service and affection!" She then exited her pose. "As gratitude for your everyday efforts, I will offer you my best service!"

"But there's no need to worry about-" Dennis began with a hand raised, but was cut off.

"Don't be reserved and enjoy the service!" Darjeeling called out as she ran off. "I'll go make some lunch, so please wait!"

Dennis kept his hand raised as he looked on with a blank look. Douglas shook him by the shoulder to snap him out of it as he held a similar look.

Both soon snapped out of their states, and Dennis said, "But aren't Lady Darjeeling's cooking skills..."

"Are you familiar with them?" Douglas wondered.

Both then entered thought with dark looks. Finally, Douglas said, "It's not like we're going to die."

"I hope so..." Dennis spoke.

"Sorry for the wait, Dennis!" Darjeeling called out as she rushed toward the two with a cart holding a covered dish.

' _Here it comes!_ ' Dennis thought as his face hardened. ' _Don't omit out of curiosity!_ '

Darjeeling stopped and then pulled off the cover. "It's Darjeeling's special handmade omelet rice!"

' _Ah, it's unexpectedly normal..._ ' Dennis thought upon seeing the dish. He grew relief after seeing it was normal-looking.

Darjeeling then greatly diminished any of Dennis' hopes of it being a normal dish when she splattered an entire bottle of some black substance all over it. Whatever said substance was, it now made the dish look very unappetizing.

Dennis grew a hypnotized look as his spirit tried to leave his body upon seeing the new dish.

"Oh! Just what have I done?!" Darjeeling remarked as she raised a hand to her face. "There's no space to write something with ketchup!" She then started searching her body for something.

"It's not that!" Dennis' spirit tried to tell her.

"Ah," Darjeeling began as she pulled out another bottle. "Good that I happened to have some mustard here!"

And so Darjeeling wrote out the word 'Love' atop her dish using the mustard. In the process, she had also ended up forcing Dennis' spirit back into his body like a demon.

Dennis then picked up a spoon and tried out the dish offered. Upon taking the first bite, he already looked ready to hurl. "Ugh..." he moaned in distaste. "Guh... It's delicious..."

"Oh, really?" Darjeeling replied with an appreciative smile. "I'm glad!"

Douglas was watching in horror as Dennis continued eating the dish offered, even though he was ready to upchuck it.

"Douglas!" Darjeeling called.

"Ha-! Yes?" he turned to her with a start.

"I wanted to do your favorite roast beef, but it would have taken too long, so I couldn't finish preparing it," Darjeeling revealed with a hand up at her mouth.

"Nonononono, don't worry!" Douglas denied as he shook his head rapidly with his hands out. "I'm not hungry, so just this little is enough!"

"Oh, really?" Darjeeling asked. She then uncovered another dish she brought. "If that's the case, then have a light portion of fish and chips!"

' _That's heavy!_ ' Douglas thought as he grew ready to hurl at Darjeeling's latest dish.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Do you know this saying?" Darjeeling asked a bit later with a finger raised. "'My appetite comes to me while eating.'" She then winked. "You two! Don't be afraid to ask for seconds!"

"Montaigne, right..." Dennis recalled while trying to keep his lunch down. Both he and Douglas had their heads on the table after they finished their dishes.

"No thanks, my belly and stomach are already full, ugh," Douglas denied as respectfully as he could while trying to hold down his lunch.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, after both Dennis and Douglas recovered, all three of them heard a vehicle park out front beside the Churchill. It was Ooarai's _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._

"It seems like a car drove up," Dennis observed as he heard the sound.

"You said 'car,' but that sounds like something much heavier," Douglas remarked as he heard the vehicle pull up.

"Did you invite someone besides us?" Dennis asked Darjeeling.

"That's right!" Darjeeling confirmed as she started to the door. "The folks from Ooarai!"

Outside, the group from Ooarai consisted of Erich, Miho, Anton, Saori, Herz, Hana, Nathan, Yukari, David, and Mako, all in their school attires. After the rest had already gotten off, Erich was currently helping Miho down from the FAMO's platform like a gentleman. Miho took his offered hand and came down. She had a shy smile and a blush at the sudden politeness from her lover.

"I want to return the hospitality!" Darjeeling elaborated from inside. Dennis and Douglas had grown a look of horror at the idea of the Ooarai bunch having to suffer from Darjeeling's cooking.

Darjeeling had opened the double doors and was now greeting the Ooarai bunch. "Welcome home, master. Do you know this saying?" she began before pulling some sexy maid poses. "Do you want dinner? A bath? Or perhaps... Darjeeling?"

During her greeting of the Ooarai group, Dennis and Douglas were forcibly looking away. Dennis then hesitantly looked back to them out of the corner of his eye.

He noticed all but two of the Ooarai bunch looking on at Darjeeling with hypnotized looks. Miho was giving a warning glare to Darjeeling, and she had her arms around Erich as well to get her point across that Erich was hers, and hers only. Erich himself was looking on at Darjeeling in amusement. He snorted a few times as he tried to hold back laughter.

' _Nooooooooo!_ ' Dennis thought in despair ' _We're so sorry!_ '

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, everyone from Ooarai was seated at a large table inside.

"Help yourself to Darjeeling's special omelet rice!" Darjeeling granted as she set two of her dishes in front of the group. "I'm also proud to give you a large serving of fish and chips!"

The Ooarai folks then dug into their 'food.' All but one of them started growing sick looks as they ate on.

"Is this an MRE?" Yukari commented in a lifeless manner.

"This isn't _that_ bad," Erich commented. He was unaffected by the food, unlike the others. "It reminds me a bit of _eiserne Rationen._ "

' _This is the first time I've seen the folks from Ooarai in such a mood!_ ' Dennis thought in alarm as he looked on at the scene.

Darjeeling also noticed most of the Ooarai folks start hanging their heads. "Don't they all somehow appear to be unhappy?" she observed with a hand raised to her mouth. "I wonder if something happened to them..."

' _Something_ did _happen to them! Just now, in fact!_ ' Dennis thought as he observed close by with a deadpan look.

"I just wanted to have a fun time with them, even if it's just for now…" Darjeeling commented as she grew a bit of a sad look. She then regrew a more energetic demeanor as she set off with determination. "Let's bring them some more tasty things!"

"Lady Darjeeling?" Dennis tried. He and Douglas were at a table. But Darjeeling had already gotten out of earshot, and the two British boys looked to each other.

"Call him," Douglas requested.

"Way ahead of you," Dennis responded as he pulled out his phone and dialed Arthur's number. He then waited for him to pick up.

" _Tally ho!_ " Arthur greeted over the line a few seconds later.

"Sir Arthur, we have a code 7," Dennis began with clarity. "We need to enact 'Bodyguard.'"

" _Oh, boy,_ " Arthur sighed upon recognizing the meaning of Dennis' words. " _Alright, I'll round up the troops. We'll be there soon._ "

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time later, Darjeeling was furiously working in the kitchen as she tried to make another dish.

"I wonder if there wasn't enough oil," she said to herself as she rushed to make her next dish. "Tally ho!"

Soon, she finished and stepped away from her work. "I wonder if this will be to everybody's liking?" she wondered as she rubbed the sweat off her forehead.

"Lady Darjeeling!" she heard Arthur's voice.

Darjeeling turned around to find Arthur, Dennis, Douglas, Orange Pekoe, and Assam there. The girls were in maid outfits like Darjeeling while the boys were in butler outfits.

"I'm sure you are familiar with this saying," Arthur began with his small yet confident grin.

"'Sharing one's lot with another,'" all five of the new servants quoted.

"Let us show hospitality to the folks from Ooarai together!" Assam suggested.

"Lads!" Darjeeling began with a pleasantly surprised look.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Everyone!" the Ooarai folks heard a bit later. They snapped out of their previous states as they turned to find Dennis and Orange Pekoe coming with some tea.

"We brought you all a second serving of black tea!" Dennis offered as he and Orange Pekoe served out another serving of tea. "Please enjoy it while it's still hot!"

"Ah, thanks Dennis," Erich thanked as he and Miho took a cup each. Erich downed his very quickly, almost as quickly as a snap of the fingers. "That was real tasty!"

"I tried making tea with the tea set you gave me," Miho began while holding her tea as she talked to Orange Pekoe. "But I couldn't make it quite as tasty as this."

"Ah, well how about we have a tea party next time?" Orange Pekoe offered. "I can show you how to brew tea."

"Really? That would make me really happy!" Miho replied with a great smile.

"That sounds nice," Erich replied with his calm smile.

From the sidelines, Darjeeling was watching with curiosity of how things were going.

"Ooh, lemme see! Lemme see!" Saori excitedly said. "Especially that 'Jumping' thing!"

"Of course!" Orange Pekoe granted with a smile.

"Saori, it's not like you're actually going to jump, right?" Hana remarked.

From the sidelines, Darjeeling was still watching the scene, and she grew a great look of accomplishment at seeing her original plan working out so well now.

David and Mako then spotted something that made them raise their eyebrows in surprise.

"I'm sorry about the continuance of oily things," Assam began as she and Douglas served out some delicacies. "Please rid yourselves of the aftertaste with these scones!"

"Ah, how nice," Herz commented as David and Mako both energetically reached for delicacies.

"I have a joke to accompany these sweets," Assam started again. "The customer said,' Hey you, isn't there a fly in my soup?' To which the clerk replied, 'Don't worry, this meat won't be added to the price.'"

Both Herz and Hana started to snort heavily, but they covered their mouths to muffle it. They attracted the attention of Saori, Anton, Douglas, and Assam. Anton and Saori were looking on at the two snickering people in confusion, while the two Brits saw it as an opportunity.

Douglas spoke up with, "'Doctor, my child swallowed a pen! What should I do?' 'Use a pencil instead!'"

Herz and Hana started snorting harder as they tried to hold in their laughter. It was only just barely working, and their faces were starting to grow red because of their efforts to muffle themselves.

' _They love them,_ ' Douglas and Assam thought in bliss upon seeing people laugh at their jokes.

"Herz, what's up?" Anton wondered. "Wait…" he trailed off as Herz leaned on his shoulder to control his laughter.

"Isn't it strange?" Saori tried. "Hana?" Hana had similarly leaned onto Saori's shoulder to help with her laughter.

"Ouch," both Anton and Saori reacted as Herz and Hana started hitting their shoulders to release their laughter. "Ouch."

"Ha…" Herz began as he calmed down from the jokes he found hilarious. "I… Mean, fly… Meat…"

"Pencil…" Hana started as she started calming down from her great laugh. "Pe… Pe… Ha…"

David and Mako just sat there and ate their delicacies as if nothing was happening.

' _Well, Sir Arthur, there's some other people here with the same senses of humor as Sir Douglas and Lady Assam…_ ' Dennis thought with a deadpan as he and Orange Pekoe observed the scene.

"Pencil!" Arthur got out as he leaned over in laughter. "A masterpiece, no matter how often I hear it!"

He then realized with a start that he hadn't seen Darjeeling for a few minutes.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I'm not going to lose to them!" Darjeeling proclaimed as she came out of the kitchen with another dish of hers. "Darjeeling's special toast with plenty of dark marmite!"

Orange Pekoe and Dennis managed to stop her, though, as they held out their hands.

"We already put out the scones," Orange Pekoe informed.

"Let's save this for another opportunity," Dennis suggested as he took the dish and headed back to the kitchen.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Finally done!" Darjeeling proclaimed as she came from the kitchen later with yet another dish. "Well-cooked and juicy roast beef, with plenty of bouillon!"

This time, Assam and Douglas stopped her with their hands held out.

"Right now, such heavy food would be a bit like 'that,'" Assam informed.

"So let's save this for another opportunity," Douglas suggested as he took the dish back.

"Lady Darjeeling, you already gave your best showing hospitality to the lads, so why don't you just take a small break?" Arthur suggested. "Go ahead and play with your smartphone."

' _I don't know how to use this!_ ' Darjeeling thought as she stood there frozen with her phone out. She then settled for playing around on her phone, but she soon lit up with an idea.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, all of the Ooarai folks were gathered out front of the estate as they said goodbye to the other Brits.

"This was really fun!" Miho complimented.

"The sweets were really tasty," Erich complimented with his everlasting calm smile.

"Please come again!" Arthur wished them as the Ooarai group prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Darjeeling cried out as she ran up to the gathered group with a bag in hand.

"Lady Darjeeling!" Arthur spoke with a start as he looked back to find her.

Darjeeling arrived by the Ooarai group. "I don't know if this suits your tastes, but please take this as a gift!" she offered the bag with an inviting smile.

"Thank you!" Miho thanked as she accepted the bag. "You really go from A to Z…"

"We'll have it on the way home," Erich promised.

"I'm honestly very happy about today!" Miho commented with a smile typical of her as she leaned up against Erich.

"Perhaps we can have a tea party at our place next time," Erich offered with a calm smile as he wrapped an arm around Miho's waist. Everyone else from the group appeared to be similarly pleased with the time they spent there.

The group then got up into their _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ and set off out of the estate. Darjeeling waved to them as they left.

"La-Lady Darjeeling!" Arthur began in a bit of a jumpy manner as he came up beside Darjeeling. "I just want to ask you just in case, but what exactly did you gift them?"

Darjeeling raised a finger and began, "Darjeeling's special fresh mellow. A large serving of eel jelly!"

Arthur dropped his jaw in shocked disbelief.

XXXXXXXXXX

Darjeeling's 'Do You Know This?' Cuisine

'Origins of Eel Jelly'

Otherwise known as jellied eel, eel jelly is a traditional dish that originated from 18th century England!

It's a healthy menu of the working class, made from eel cut into cylindrical tubes and cooked together with cooled collagen!

You can eat it warm or cold!

XXXXXXXXXX

Later out on the streets of the _HMS Ark Royal,_ the FAMO came to a stop by the side of the road as its white flag popped up. Almost everyone aboard was sick to themselves from the eel jelly they had eaten.

"Oh, come on, _Miholein,_ " Erich began. He held no choice now but to comfort Miho as she lost her lunch. He was kneeled beside her and stroking her back in comfort as she remained on her knees and threw up over the side. "I _know_ you've also had _eiserne Rationen,_ and this isn't that bad in comparison."

He then rethought his words as he saw everyone else hurl their food, as well. He was not a part of said hurling because he appeared completely normal. "Well, okay, I guess it _is_ worse than _eiserne Rationen,_ but it's definitely not worse than an MRE."

Miho soon exhausted herself after barfing, and she practically collapsed against her boyfriend's chest. She was red in the face as she took some breaths to relax, and Erich held her to aid her relaxing.

"You know, if someone had seen what just occurred out of context, they'd probably think you were showing the symptoms of being pregnant," Erich offhandedly commented to pass the time. The others were down on the ground trying to recover for themselves. "Appearances can be interpreted quite a bit, you know, and in interesting ways, too. I find it hilarious at times."

Miho's face grew even redder as she blushed at her boyfriend's unintended insinuation. She snuggled further into her lover's embrace, and she traced out her stomach with one of her fingers. "You know that I would love to have children with you..." Miho quietly and shyly revealed to Erich. "I'd be elated if I could be pregnant with a child of our own creation..."

"I know that very well. It's not very hard to guess what you're thinking, you know," Erich calmly replied as he continued holding her. He then leaned closer to her ear and quietly continued. "But that's one thing I have to deny you, at least for now." He then gently held the hand on her stomach. "While I'm sure we're up to the task of raising children, it would be utter hell on us if we started while we were still in school. Not to mention Maho and Alfred would probably kill us if they ever found out we're even having such sexual activities in the first place, and they'd probably torture us for the rest of our lives if you ended up getting pregnant. I don't know about you, but I want to be alive and well after we're done with school."

Miho whimpered a bit as she cozied even more into Erich. "But I just love you so much!" she whined with her face turned to his. "I just can't wait!"

"Sorry, _Miholein,_ but that's the one thing I'm gonna have to tell you 'no' on, at least for now," Erich finalized. In response, Miho pouted in a way that made her look even cuter in Erich's eyes, but she remained leaning against him anyway.

' _Of course,_ ' he continued in his thoughts, ' _if you want, I_ would _be willing to have us get married to each other while we're still in school. If you really want to, that is. I mean, it would be kind of expected anyway considering Maho and Alfred already called it a long time ago._ '

Both of them then dropped the subject as they stared off at the sunset while they waited for their friends to finish upchucking their eel jelly.

"We _did_ warn everyone against how awful English food can be, did we?" Erich wondered as the two of them continued hearing their friends barfing for what seemed like hours.

XXXXXXXXXX

All people have different things they're good at!

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	26. Kapitel 5,1,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Panzernägel**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

One day aboard the _Zuikaku,_ Saori was busy showing off her recently done nails to Hana. Both were in their school uniforms. Saori's nails featured tank designs on them, mainly those representing the _Panzer_ IV. Among the particular design details were an outline for a later KwK 40-armed _Panzer_ IV, the track patterns, the front drive sprockets, and the road wheels.

"Oh my, Saori, what lovely nails!" Hana complimented as Saori showed off her nails to her.

"Yesterday, I found this awesome nail salon," Saori revealed with an elated smile. "I just got them done today! I'm keeping these babies secret from the Public Morals Committee."

A bit later, she showed them off to Erich, as well, who was in his normal school attire. The blond-haired German ultra-ace just happened to be passing by her area when he took notice of Saori's nails.

"Ooh, _Panzer_ designs," he commented with a smile. "Those look real pretty."

"I know, aren't they?" Saori replied with a smile and a bit of a blush at getting another compliment.

"Yeah, I agree. But, well, when you're doing some of these kinds of sports, I heard from _Miholein_ that nails can get cracked or gouged, and that fake nails can peel off. I can only trust her word on that, but, hey, do your best if you love them so much!"

Saori lost a bit of her eagerness as she looked at her nails after hearing Erich's words.

Erich looked on at her current state with his usual smile. ' _I hope she's not the kind of person that shoots the messenger,_ ' he thought at the same time.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	27. Kapitel 5,1,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Niedlich_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

One evening, Miho and her group of friends were taking a bath with each other at one of the indoor baths aboard. Erich had also joined in after being invited. The other girls were more willing to invite him back after their first such instance of bathing with him after they saw Miho was correct about him. Some time during the bath, Mako fell asleep. The others only became aware of it when they heard her blubbing with her mouth under the water.

"Mako, you fell asleep in the bath again…" Saori belatedly observed.

She and Hana then both moved to help bring her out of the bath. After the both of them got towels around themselves first, Saori then lifted the sleeping Mako out of the bath from under her arms. After she was pulled out of the water, Hana then wrapped a towel around her.

"Don't you know that you can drown doing that?" Saori questioned Mako, even though she knew she wouldn't respond.

While she was being lifted up and out of the water, Miho was staring at her in a bit of a hypnotized way. She had likened Mako's current appearance to that of a cat.

Erich saw her current expression and smiled as he put an arm around her. " _Nein, Miholein,_ " he began. " _Sie ist nicht eine Katze._ "

Miho shook herself as she snapped out of her daze and looked to Erich in surprise. She soon looked away with a clearly visible blush on her face as she grew greatly embarrassed. "How did you even know I thought she looked like a cat?" she asked with embarrassment in her voice.

Erich chuckled at her current appearance. "Well, she kind of reminds me of a cat, too," Erich revealed. "Not to mention that after knowing you for so long, I like to think I have a pretty good idea of how you think."

Miho giggled awkwardly as she continued looking embarrassed at Erich figuring her out so easily. She then looked around and realized that she and Erich were currently all alone in the bath, and she grew a larger blush at the realization.

She swallowed her nervousness and moved so she sat directly atop Erich while straddling him and with her arms wrapped around his neck.

Erich simply chuckled at Miho's current actions as he placed his hands on her hips. "You _really_ want to do it now, don't you?" he asked her with a grin.

Miho blushed a deep red again as she tried responding while her shyness tried coming back up. "… Yeah… Please, _Bubi?_ "

Erich looked at her with his grin for a bit. He then sighed in resignation. "Alright," he granted.

Upon hearing him give her permission, Miho quickly closed the gap between her and her blond knight's lips as she fervently kissed him and began an eventful bath with him.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few minutes later, Saori and Hana were walking back to the bath area after leaving Mako in a better place and state to sleep.

"Sometimes I feel Mako's doing this on purpose just to see how we react," Saori commented as they approached the entry area.

"Perhaps," Hana granted. "But she is naturally like that, too."

"Yeah, as much as I don't like it," Saori belatedly confirmed.

The two then reached the entry area, but they both stopped when they heard sounds from inside. The sounds were those of pleasure, and they could hear they were mainly coming from Miho.

Both Saori and Hana looked to each other with looks of confusion and bafflement. They turned back to the entry, and Saori walked to the doorway and peeked out from its side to see what was going on inside. She looked on for a few seconds before she pulled her head back.

"Hana?" she spoke. She now had a relatively blank look, as if hypnotized.

"What?" Hana replied as she stood behind Saori.

"Catch me," Saori requested. She then fainted and started to collapse, but Hana caught her from under the shoulders in time. Hana then hoisted her up so she could support her by just slinging an arm over her shoulder.

Hana looked to the doorway for a moment. ' _I wonder what Saori saw in there,_ ' she thought. She then heard a scream of pleasure from within that she could clearly identify as Miho's, and she shook her head and started walking away while supporting Saori. ' _Nevermind, I think I know now. But thankfully for them there's no one else here to disturb them._ '

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	28. Kapitel 5,1,3

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 ** _Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein_**

 ** _Kapitel Drei: Die Gesichter Gustav macht_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

At the history guys' place, Wolf had a book in hand as he walked over to Gustav.

"Hey, Gustav," Wolf spoke up. Gustav turned to him in response. "You wanted this book, right? Well here you go."

Said book had ' _Lejonet från Norden_ ' as its title plus a picture of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden on the cover.

Upon seeing what the book was, Gustav grew a childishly excited smile as he took the book. He started to head off, but Wolf held him up with some comments.

"But, that Gustavus guy sure was excessively reckless and careless. I mean, he didn't even wear armor into battle…" Wolf began as he shrugged with a grin. "Nevertheless, he was pretty good for someone who proclaimed that the Lord was his armor."

Gustav then grew a mighty pissed face as he started for Wolf. Wolf simply held his grin until he stepped out of Gustav's attack at the last second. He then ran off, still with a grin.

"I'm gonna hand another Breitenfeld to you, you high and mighty prince!" Gustav called out as he chased after Wolf.

"Don't let that turn into a Poltava, _mein König,_ " Wolf retorted as he ran on.

The two eventually ended up running past Abe and Leonidas, and the two of them just watched as Gustav tried chasing down Wolf.

"It looks like this may end like Prague did in 1648," Leonidas commented.

"That's it," Abe agreed as they both watched the Swede and the German get into a brief exchange of flying fists before Wolf broke away and ran off again. Gustav followed him onward, determined to make him pay.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	29. Kapitel 5,1,4

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein**_

 _ **Kapitel Vier: Ooarai Hunde**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Zuikaku,_ the Ooarai _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ teams were getting ready to start another joint practice. It wasn't one of their big practices involving large amounts of coordination. It was just a practice for the sake of keeping in top condition, and as such everyone was still in their school uniforms.

As David climbed into the FAMO and settled behind the wheel, he noticed through the vision slit a puppy Dachshund just sitting there on the hood minding its own business. David then chose to climb out of the hatch above him and reach out for the Dachshund.

"Jeez, you were already waiting for us, Anton?" he asked the dog. He had a small relaxed smile as he petted the Dachshund.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Anton," Herz began as he approached David and the Dachshund. "We haven't yet found a way to return you to a human."

"But don't worry, Anton," David spoke up. "We'll definitely find a way to return you to normal."

Both David and Herz then started playing around with the Dachshund. Meanwhile, the real Anton was sitting within the FAMO at his post while he messed with the radio. He was also listening to David and Herz in the meantime.

"Oh, that's strange," David noted. "Have you been starving yourself, Anton? You've been real negligent about your health, Anton."

"No, you mustn't lick there, Anton," Herz said. "Jeez, quit being such a child, Anton."

Anton simply rolled his eyes as he continued messing with the radio and keeping updated. "These guys are fucking crazy," he muttered. He then chose to speak into the radio. " _Bubi,_ you won't believe the things these guys are doing now."

" _Oh? What's going on down there?_ " Erich asked over the radio. He was already in the air in his Bf 109 K-4.

"These guys are treating a Dachshund like it was actually me."

" _Oh._ " Erich remained silent for a few seconds before continuing. " _Yeah, that does sound really odd. But hey, you're their Kommandeur._ "

Anton grew a bit confused at Erich's words for a few seconds. He then realized what he meant as he grew an expression of mock anger. "Oh, fuck you too, _Bubi!_ "

All he heard over the radio was Erich laughing.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	30. Kapitel 5,1,5

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein_**

 ** _Kapitel Fünf: Genie Mechaniker_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

One day within the hangars, David was sleepily sitting on some boxes as he rubbed one of his eyes. In front of him were seven other people on the team. They were Zitrus, Seth, Gustav, Christoph, Kolari, Mark, and Dittmar. Everyone there was in their normal school attires.

"Wait, so let me get this straight…" David began as he tried waking up. He wasn't succeeding yet. "You want me to teach you all the secrets of quickly fixing up your fighters?"

"Yes!" Seth confirmed with enthusiasm typical of the badminton players. "You're Ooarai's number one mechanic, so we'd be honored to learn your ways!"

"Even _I'm_ not _that_ skilled, so I'd also love to learn some more from the master!" Dittmar further confirmed.

"Oh," David responded. He still appeared sleepy. "Well, there's not much to it. Just by reading the manual you can get it down pat."

He then woke up fully and assumed a much more mature look than was normal for him. "From the very first page, it's all 'blahblahblahsafety,' and then it's like 'whiiiiiir!' And then there's how it's all 'crrrrtikatikatika' while going 'khrrrrrrrr,' then after the last 'kakaaaa' you have to go 'kachunk…'"

The other seven there were watching in a hypnotized look as David continued his 'lecture.' Christoph spotted a butterfly flying by and briefly turned to it. He quickly turned back to the lecture though, still in a hypnotized mindset.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	31. Kapitel 5,1,6

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein**_

 _ **Kapitel Sechs: Es ist ein Akt!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

For the day, the _Panzerkraft_ team for Ooarai chose to have a practice match amongst each other. They were split into two teams as they competed on their training grounds. To mix things up and to train against irregular enemies, the _Jägermeistern_ team's SPAAs were brought into the fight, as well. Everyone was in their combat uniforms, as this was one of the big practices.

At the current phase of the fight, the M3 Lee was just hit by a powerful shot.

"Whoa!" Azusa cried out as the whole crew got roughed up from the hit.

"Ah!" Aya reacted at the same time. The M3 Lee's white flag then popped up to signify its defeat.

Soon, the freshmen girls all recovered as Anton came in over their radio, " _Rabbit Team, are you girls good?!_ " The _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ was clearly heard giving return fire from nearby.

"Sorry, but we were taken down!" Azusa responded. "We're all doing alright, though!"

Next to her, Saki saw Aya take off her glasses and put on a pair that had cracked lenses.

"My glasses were broken, but I'm doing alright!" Aya replied over the radio. Saki looked away and chose to keep the now uncovered truth to herself.

"Thank God," Anton replied in relief. He was mounted on the _Acht-Acht_ at his usual post standing out of his hatch with all of the vehicle's usual crew members.

The FAMO had continued moving on after the M3 Lee was taken down close to their position. For the moment, they were all alone.

Soon, Anton spotted something about 800 meters away driving out through the trees. "Two o'clock!" he called out. " _Tiger!_ "

Herz began rotating the gun to face the target, but Anton spotted the enemy _Acht-Acht_ already aimed at them. "Incoming!" he called out.

David jinxed the wheel of the _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ just as the _Tiger_ (P) opened fire, which made its shot miss. In the midst of the evasive maneuvers, the unwieldy Flak gun itself was now pointed directly at the enemy _Tiger._

"Fire!" Anton ordered.

Herz fired the Flak gun and struck the VK 45.01 (P) straight in the turret. The shot made the German prototype heavy tank's white flag shoot up in reply.

XXXXXXXXXX

Farther away from the _Panzer_ IV H, Erich had seen the entire scene unfold along with the rest of the _Anglerfish_ Team. He had a proud smile at the skill exercised by his friends. He was sitting on the turret top beside Miho's commander cupola.

"They're good," Miho commented with a smile. "They're _real_ good, for a bunch of guys fighting heavy tanks with just an _ersatz Panzerjäger._ "

"Yeah. I'm proud of them," Erich agreed. "It makes me rest easy knowing they're there to help protect you."

Miho giggled in response. She then grew a flirty grin as the two looked to each other. "Even though you'd prefer to do it yourself?"

"Guilty as charged," Erich relented as he raised his hands in mock surrender.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	32. Kapitel 5,1,7

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 ** _Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein_**

 ** _Kapitel Sieben: Einseitig_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

On another day aboard the _Zuikaku,_ the group from Pravda had come for another visit. Whatever they were visiting for, they were just like they always were, that being Katyusha riding on one of the others' shoulders. Right now, she had chosen to ride on Sasha's. All of the Pravda folks were in their school uniforms.

During the time they were aboard, Anzu had caught sight of them in the midst of her stretches within her own school uniform. She stared on at the sight of Katyusha as she pointed onwards while atop Sasha's shoulders. After they passed by, Anzu ran off as if on a mission.

Soon, she found Aprikose not far away. "Aprikose!" she called out as she waved her hand up. "Gimme a piggyback ride!"

"Huh?" Aprikose wondered as he turned around. "What for?"

"'Cause I wanna see what it's like!" Anzu replied cheerful as always. "Now bend over!"

"Whoa, whoa," Aprikose stopped her as he held his hands up in front of him. "I'll kneel down, but I won't _ever_ bend over in front of you."

"Oh, shut up!" Anzu retorted in good humor. Aprikose chuckled a bit at the response, but he kneeled down anyways.

Anzu then worked her way to sitting on Aprikose's shoulders. Aprikose held her by the ankles in support as he slowly stood and the pair balanced themselves.

"Oh ho, I see now," Anzu commented as Aprikose began walking onward. "So _that's_ how it is."

"What does that even mean?" Aprikose wondered from below.

Anzu grew a mischievous grin as she began using her hands to play around with Aprikose's face. "Well, like this, I can play around with you as much as I like," she elaborated with a somewhat flirty tone.

Aprikose simply accepted his current state until Anzu got a little reckless with her playing. The Bavarian boy took advantage and bit the Japanese girl's finger lightly enough to not hurt her, but hard enough to alert her. Anzu pulled her finger away with a start upon feeling Aprikose's teeth bite down on it.

"I was fine with the rest of that stuff, but please don't get too carried away, or there'll be more where that came from," Aprikose spoke with a grin of his own.

Anzu dramatically sighed in mock disappointment as she settled with resting her arms on Aprikose's head while leaning forward.

Soon, however, Anzu spotted another specific pair of people in the same piggyback state.

"Hey, Miho!" she called out as she waved her hand. "Over here!"

The other piggybacking pair, that being Miho atop Erich's shoulders, stopped and looked over as Anzu closed with them atop Aprikose.

Erich snorted at the sight of the two Ooarai Presidents' current state. "Well, what a coincidence," he commented.

"Yeah, this girl's a real sly character, Erich," Aprikose replied. " _Sag mir. Ist das normal für dich?_ "

" _Au, ja,_ " Erich replied with an amused grin. " _Sie liebt es, mich als Diener zu haben._ "

Aprikose and Erich then shared a laugh with each other. Atop Erich, Miho grew another embarrassed blush while Anzu looked on with a raised eyebrow. She appeared somewhat lost.

"… Um, Miho?" the Japanese girl asked to the German girl atop Erich. "What did they say?"

Miho snapped out of her embarrassed state as she grew a bit confused at Anzu's question. She then remembered Anzu was the odd one out in this case with her being Japanese, and not German like Miho and the boys they were using as their steeds.

"Oh, that," Miho began as she grew back an embarrassed blush. "Eh, well _Herr_ President asked if this was normal for _Bubi,_ to which _Bubi_ replied yes, and that I like when he's being my servant…" She grew even more embarrassed at relaying what was said.

"Ah…" Anzu realized. She gained a knowing grin after understanding what was said and its implications.

By that time, Erich and Aprikose had come back to normal, and the two pairs then set off alongside each other.

"Oh, by the way Erich," Aprikose began. "You should know that the Pravda folks are here, too."

"Oh, really? I didn't know that." Erich responded. He then grew a thoughtful look before he grew an idea. "Hey, let's find them! I have an idea I want to try with them."

The other three raised an eyebrow in confusion. They were very much confused about what Erich's idea could be.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later with the Pravda folks, they were walking about when they saw two pairs of people come walking towards them from ahead. The two pairs appeared to be in a similar piggyback riding state as Katyusha and Sasha were in currently.

The two piggybacking Russians raised an eyebrow in confusion while the other two Russians grew amused looks.

"Hey Sasha! Katyusha!" Erich called out. Anzu was atop Aprikose while concurrently waving to the Russians.

"Uh…" Sasha began with some confusion as the two groups of four approached each other. "Am I seeing things or is _Mal'chik_ piggybacking _Pirozhki?_ "

"I see them and the Ooarai Presidents doing the same thing, too," Katyusha responded in a similarly confused manner as she looked on at the two piggybacking pairs.

"Hey, Sasha, Katyusha," Erich began with his typical smile. "How are things going?"

" _Pirozhki,_ what is going on?" Katyusha bluntly asked Miho.

Miho laughed lightly and in an embarrassed manner as she blushed yet again. " _Bubi_ got this idea after he saw you always riding on everyone's shoulders," she revealed.

Katyusha looked on for a bit in silence before she looked over to Aprikose and Anzu. "And what about them?" she finally asked.

"This was _her_ idea," Aprikose replied as he looked up to Anzu as best he could.

"Yup!" Anzu confirmed with her typical carefree demeanor as she laid her hands on Aprikose's face. "It looked so fun seeing you guys do it, so I wanted to know what it was like."

"But anyways," Erich spoke up again. "Sasha, Katyusha, would you care to partake in a little idea of mine?"

The two piggybacking Russians raised an eyebrow. "What may that be?" Sasha asked for them both.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later, all three piggybacking pairs were lined up alongside each other. The ones on the bottom, that being Sasha, Erich, and Aprikose, were all ready to break into a sprint. The ones on top of them, that being Katyusha, Miho, and Anzu respectively, were all holding tightly onto them.

A few meters ahead of them stood Nonna. Nudelmann was off to the side of the piggybacking pairs.

"Okay, are you all ready?" Nonna asked the piggybacking pairs.

" _Da!_ " Sasha responded fired up with adrenaline.

" _Ja!_ " Erich and Aprikose concurrently replied in similar adrenaline-filled states.

" _Pirozhki,_ your _vozlyublennyy_ is starting to make me fear for my life with his ideas," Katyusha spoke up to Miho.

Miho shyly laughed in response with a blush.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm getting fired up for this race!" Anzu proclaimed with similar energy as the boys.

Nonna then raised her arms up above with the index and middle fingers extended together. She then swung them in a rhythm that signaled a countdown. She let them hang above her for a couple seconds before she quickly dropped her arms so she now pointed behind her with her two sets of fingers.

At that signal, the three piggyback givers broke into a sprint and quickly passed by Nonna. The piggy backers themselves held on a little more tightly as the piggyback givers launched.

The route they followed was a short one. It went through part of the surrounding residential area before it came back around to the starting point.

The first half of the race consisted of all three of them remaining close to each other. All of the guys were clearly using the conditioning from their _Jägermeistern_ training as they ran quickly and with great stamina.

All the girls could do was sit atop them and try to not be a bother to them. But as the race entered its second half in going through the alleys and back streets, the girls started growing a bit more competitive.

At that point, all three were still close enough to each other that it was anyone's race. The girls chose to help out their guys by altering their combined center of gravity to be more favorable. In the straights this was them leaning over their heads, while in turns they leaned with the runners.

Soon, they all came upon the home stretch, and Nonna was at the finishing point with a checkered flag. Nudelmann was alongside her with his phone pointed the way of the competitors. The three competing pairs chose to give it their all upon seeing Nonna start waving the flag.

They then passed the finish line, and at the same time Nudelmann snapped a picture with his phone of the finish. All of the guys then slowly came to a stop as they exited their running. They had clearly given their all, as they now looked absolutely beat.

"Man, that was good, _Mal'chik,_ " Sasha commented as he regained his breath.

"Yeah, that was a good race, Erich," Aprikose similarly commented.

But soon enough, all three of the guys collapsed to the ground after their fatigue grew to be too much. The girls instinctively got off of them to save them more injuries, and upon seeing they were just exhausted, they chose to head over to Nonna and Nudelmann.

"Well, who won, Nonna?!" Katyusha demanded.

Nonna hesitated to reveal the results, but she then turned to Nudelmann. "You tell them," she requested.

"Fine then," Nudelmann replied. He then turned to the girls. "Well, as unbelievable as it sounds, it was a three-way draw." He held up his phone with the picture of the finish as proof. Sure enough, all three of them had crossed the 'line' at the exact same time.

Katyusha and Anzu dropped their mouths a bit in disbelief while Miho lightly laughed in her shy way.

"What?!" Katyusha and Anzu reacted. They were fired up from finding out they all had a draw.

"I have to admit, though, that was really fun!" Miho admitted with her smile. "Maybe we can do it again sometime?"

Katyusha and Anzu looked to Miho upon hearing her words, and both chose to drop their competitiveness as they shrugged. "Eh, alright," they acquiesced.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	33. Kapitel 5,1,8

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein_**

 ** _Kapitel Acht: Rekrutierung!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

For the moment, Alex and Harry were walking throughout the school trying to recruit any new members for the Badminton Club. They weren't having a successful go at it thus far. Everyone passing by them was in the normal Ooarai school uniforms, and Alex and Harry were in their typical badminton uniforms.

"Jeez, if this continues we'll have to admit defeat," Alex observed with some distaste.

"Yeah, and we'll _still_ be out of a club if we don't get enough members," Harry further agreed in a similar manner.

Soon, though, Harry raised his eyebrows as he spotted someone of interest. "Hey, let's try him!" he suggested as he pointed over to Mesut Schweinsteiger.

"Oh, yeah!" Alex agreed upon spotting who Harry had pointed out. "He looks like he'd be good at badminton!"

The two badminton players then started over to Mesut.

"Hey, Mesut, right?" Alex began as the two approached. Mesut turned around to them in response. "You have any interest in any sports?"

"Er…" Mesut began as he raised a hand behind his head. "Well, I'm pretty good at _Fußball…_ "

"Ah, well have you ever wanted to perhaps try out something else? Like badminton?" Alex continued.

"Well, not really…" Mesut stated unsurely.

"We could definitely use someone of your height on the badminton team!" Harry encouraged.

"Um, what does height have to do with badminton?" Mesut asked in a bit of confusion.

"Well generally, being taller means you have longer arms, which gives a greater reach!" Alex clarified. "And you're already pretty athletic, so why not just give it a try?"

"Oh, really? What should I do now?" Mesut said more to himself.

"Hey!" they all heard Christoph call out from behind them. All of them turned to find him already in one of the badminton uniforms and with a racquet in hand. He looked pretty enthusiastic as he pointed to himself in implication.

But the other three immediately turned away to continue their own conversation.

"Well, do you want to come see us practice for now?" Harry asked Mesut.

"It's all for fun, so everything will be fine," Alex encouraged.

"Alright, sounds fun!" Mesut agreed.

" _Ach, komm schon!_ " Christoph complained upon being turned away and seeing Mesut get invited instead. He then walked away much less energetic than before as he moped about. "Well, at least I still have _Fußball…_ "

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	34. Kapitel 5,1,9

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein**_

 _ **Kapitel Neun: Die Klugheit einer weiblichen Geschichtsfan**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

During yet another 'normal' day aboard the _Zuikaku,_ Anton Silva was walking around trying to find a specific pair of people within his school uniform.

"Where are they?" he said to himself as he tried to pick out the people he was looking for. Soon, he spotted them. "Ah, there they are."

Anton approached the pair and greeted them with a wave. "Hey Oryou, Saemonza."

"How goes it?" Oryou replied as the two Japanese history buffs turned to face him.

"Pray tell us what is thy concern," Saemonza greeted.

"Um… whatever that means," Anton muttered. He then spoke up again. "Anyway, it's just that I heard about something interesting and thought you two would be the best sources to explain it. It was that supposedly until recently, Japanese women didn't wear any underwear. Now is that true?"

"But of course!" Oryou confirmed. "Even in the Bakumatsu period."

"And the Sengoku period as well," Saemonza further confirmed.

"Man, are they serious…?" Anton wondered to himself. He then saw both of the Japanese history buffs grin, and he then widened his eyes upon realizing they weren't kidding. He slowly backed away before he then turned around and walked away. "Okay… Note to self: don't _ever_ look up _their_ skirts," he ended as he grew a blush at what was revealed to him.

From their places, Oryou and Saemonza continued grinning as they saw Anton walk away the way he did.

"That's a level of surprise and shock I would liken to Barbarossa," Oryou compared. "Or maybe even on the level of the Ardennes in '44."

"Considering us three's backgrounds, I would instead suggest Pearl Harbor in '41," Saemonza compared.

"Oh, that's definitely it," Oryou replied.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	35. Kapitel 5,1,10

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein_**

 ** _Kapitel Zehn: Geheimer Held_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

For the time being, the freshmen groups of both the _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ teams were hanging out with each other. All of them were in their school uniforms as they sat around Karina and watched her perform various poses. Erich and Miho were also there to watch in their own school attires.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Miho complimented with a smile typical of her.

" _Karinachen_ is awesome!" Erik commented with a more energetic smile.

"Yeah!" Mesut agreed in a similar state. "She can do all these special transformation poses!"

"Oh, really?" Erich wondered with a smile. He then thought a bit. "All right, how about one from this show I saw way back when?" He then looked to Miho out of the corner of his eyes. "Er, what was he called again?"

Miho chose to whisper it in his ear. Erich paid close attention as she told him what he wanted to know. He then raised his eyebrows in enlightenment.

"Ah, yes," he said in recognition as Miho pulled away with a smile. He then addressed the freshmen again. "Okay, have you all ever heard of 'Hero Bori Ban Ban?'"

The freshmen all looked on at their two Arts of Warfare commanders with lost looks. "… What's that?" Karina managed to voice amidst her confusion.

In response, Miho grew a blank look.

"Wait, what?" Erich concurrently asked in his own confusion. "You've never heard of Hero Bori Ban Ban?"

"… No, _Bubi…_ " Matthias responded with his lost expression. "But… Is _Fräulein Kapitän_ alright?"

"Yeah, is Captain Nishizumi okay?" Azusa wondered with a bit of concern. "She doesn't look like her usual self."

Erich wondered what they meant by their words until he noticed Miho beside him with her blank look. After knowing her for so long, he could tell what caused it.

Erich turned back to the freshmen with a reassuring smile. "Oh, well don't worry about her, you guys," he began in a reassuring voice. "She's just… in a stunned state right now. She just needs some alone time to get back to normal, so… I guess we'll see you all later then."

Erich then gently led away the blank-looking Miho with an arm around her shoulders. The freshmen still looked on at her in a mixture of confusion and concern.

"Try not to take it personally, _Miholein,_ " Erich told Miho after getting far enough away from the freshmen. She still looked onwards with her blank look. "I mean, you have to admit that not everyone knows about everything _we_ know about."

"But a hero that no one knows about…" Miho began as she finally snapped out of her blank look and held her hands to the sides of her head. She now had a more fear-like expression. "Whether he truly existed or not, I'm somewhat scared of him…" She then looked to Erich. "What were we even watching?"

"I still don't know, even after this long," Erich replied while shaking his head. "I just hope we're not going insane or anything like that."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	36. Kapitel 5,1,11

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 _ **Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein**_

 _ **Kapitel Elf: Ihr erstes Mal**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Zuikaku,_ the Ooarai _Panzerkraft_ team was in the midst of yet another practice. They were having another of their big practices, meaning everyone was in their combat uniforms. This one had the tanks split into two teams and fight each other. Once again, the _Jägermeistern_ team's SPAAs were brought in to shake things up. They were in a sort-of _Freie-Jagd_ mode, where they simply roamed the battlefield on their own looking for targets of opportunity.

For the moment some time after the fight started, the _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ was stopped in part of the woods trying to stay concealed for the moment. Kolari and Satiainen were not part of the crew now, but instead Erich took their place. He had his _Sturmgewehr_ 44 with him as well, plus a full ammunition load.

Soon, though, Herz looked up from his gunner's post over to Erich. "Hey, Erich, you want to give it a go with the gun this match?" he asked.

Erich raised an eyebrow as he looked to Herz. "Why?" he replied.

"I just felt like you might've wanted to give it a try," Herz offered with a shrug.

Erich thought for a bit before he answered with a shrug, "Eh, alright."

He and Herz then switched spots, and Erich entered the gunner's seat for the mighty _Acht-Acht._

"Man, this is _definitely_ different from anything I've used before," Erich commented as he looked through the dual axis crosshair within the gun sight.

Soon, though, all of the FAMO's crew grew on edge as they heard the distinctive noise of an MG 34 firing in bursts. It sounded pretty far away, though, and so the crew simply tried figuring out which direction it came from.

"There," Erich spoke up as he pointed the gun to the right. The right of their area consisted of some more trees followed by a large plain. Erich could see through the gun sight that the source of the fire was the hull-mounted MG 34 of the flag _Panzer_ IV H for one team. It was all the way on the other side of the plain just peeking out of the trees opposite the _Acht-Acht_ as the hull MG 34 randomly shot into the general area of the woods that the heavy Flak gun was currently concealed in. "… What is she doing?" he wondered with clear confusion.

"I dunno, it's Saori we're talking about here" Anton shrugged as he looked on through a GwZF4-fach while he stood through his hatch. "But you can fire at will."

Upon getting the signal, Nathan and Herz both heaved one of the 88x571mmR rounds into the breech of the Flak gun. "Loaded!" they both informed after the process was completed.

Erich proceeded to line up his target, which judging by the marks on the range axis was around 2,000 meters away. "Two thousand meters is in effective range, right Herz?" he asked.

"Easily," Herz confirmed.

Erich then slowly breathed out and depressed the trigger.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ex-hil-ar-at-ing!" Saori girlishly proclaimed with a blush after firing off the _Panzer_ IV H's hull-mounted MG 34 for the first time.

"Yeah. For some reason, that's what everyone says…" Miho said while standing out of her commander's hatch with a smile mixed with slight confusion. "What with that one old film and all…"

She then just barely noticed what she could immediately identify as a gun flash from the trees that Saori had randomly shot at with her MG 34. Miho quickly reacted as she called out, "Incoming!"

But even the ace crew of the _Panzer_ IV could not react fast enough, and it was struck by the powerful shot. The impact rocked the girls quite a bit, but there were no injuries besides some disappointment upon their white flag going up in defeat.

" _Match is over!_ " she heard Yeager announce over the radio. He and the aeronautics guys were spectating everything from above in their custom Fieseler Fi 156. " _The 8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl. took down A Team's flag Panzer IV H!_ "

Soon, Miho heard the sound of someone else more familiar to her singing part of a very familiar-to-her song over the radio.

" _Und läßt uns im Stich einst das treulose Glück,  
Und kehren wir nicht mehr zur Heimat zurück,  
Trifft uns die Todeskugel, ruft uns das Schicksal ab, ja, Schicksal ab._

 _Dann wird unser Panzer ein ehernes Grab!_

 _Dann wird unser Panzer ein ehernes Grab!_ "

From the words, Miho was able to deduce exactly _who_ had shot her, and she was also able to deduce the teasing message behind them. She then sighed and lowered her head with a smile of resignation. She then got on the radio and admitted, "You got me, _Bubi._ "

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	37. Kapitel 5,1,12

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 ** _Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwölf: Tagesablauf_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

At the hangars while awaiting the start of another big practice for the _Jägermeistern_ team, Erich noticed Herz acting a bit different from usual. Both were in their combat outfits.

"Ngh… Ngh…" Herz grunted as he shook his hands almost uncontrollably. He looked very anxious for some reason. He also had a bow of his plus a quiver of arrows for the moment.

"Herz, what's going on?" Erich asked him with a raised eyebrow. "It's pretty unusual seeing you so anxious."

"I haven't shot at any targets yet today…!" Herz revealed as he brought up his shaking hands to his face.

"Withdrawal symptoms?" Erich stated in wonder. "I never thought you of all people could get those."

"Ah, I can't stand this anymore!" Herz yelled out as he drew his bow and nocked an arrow as he lined up a shot. "This'll have to do!" he determined as he released the arrow and sent it off at high speed.

The arrow flew just to the side of Erich's head and barely missed him before it headed over to the FAMO. At that same time, David had popped open his driver's hatch in preparation for taking a look outside. But just before he drew his head up, the arrow Herz launched struck the hatch right where David's head would have been. In response to seeing what struck his hatch, David chose to stay in the cabin with his typical emotionless look.

Anton was beside him at the time, and he grew confused as to why David hesitated to look out of his hatch. He chose to get up himself and try to find out why. He saw the arrow embedded into the driver's hatch, and he widened his eyes in shock upon realizing what just nearly occurred.

"There!" Herz proclaimed out of relief. "That's so much better!"

"Yeah…" Erich could only react as he comprehended nearly getting struck by one of Herz's arrows along with David nearly suffering the same fate.

"Hey!" they heard Anton call out. He was standing through his hatch as he swung his fist around. "Watch where you shoot those things, Herz!"

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	38. Kapitel 5,1,13

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 ** _Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein_**

 _ **Kapitel Dreizehn: Nicht ein einziges Mal**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Kiev,_ Nudelmann entered one of Pravda's _Jägermeistern_ hangars with two bottles of vodka in hand. As he entered, he was able to hear the familiar-to-him sound of someone furiously wrenching on something.

Over at one particular I-16 Type 28, Sasha was predictably the source of the wrenching sounds. He was yet again messing with the _Ishak_ in an attempt to improve it. The engine cowl was removed for the moment, as he had chosen to mess around with the M-63 engine. By now, he had just finished mounting the cylinder heads again, all nine of them.

" _Akh!_ " he grunted as he stopped turning a large torque wrench while atop the I-16. "Man, fucking head bolts…" he cursed as he regained some of his breath and wiped away some sweat.

"Hey, Sasha," Nudelmann calmly called out as he approached. He then lifted up one of his bottles of vodka in offering. "Want one?"

"I'm busy, Nudelmann!" Sasha snapped in response. He then went back to trying to tighten down the bolts for the cylinder heads. "I've got to get these… _ublyudki_ back into their places!" He had grunted out ' _ublyudki_ ' while he was turning the wrench with as much force as he could.

Nudelmann shrugged at his response. "Oh, well. Your loss," he replied. He then took one of the bottles and opened it up to drink.

" _Aaaaaakh!_ " Sasha grunted out as he continued his tightening of the head bolts. He finally ended the process and slumped over the _Ishak_ as he regained his breath again. "Man, glad that's over," he managed to get out while regaining his breath. "Head bolts are real _suki…_ "

"You sure you don't want one, Sasha?" Nudelmann asked again. He had downed one of the vodkas, and he was now closer to Sasha as he stood beside the I-16 with the other vodka.

"Yes, I'm sure, Nudelmann," Sasha responded while regaining his breath. He then tiredly got down from the _Ishak._ "You could have at least come to help!" he tried to snap, but his fatigue didn't make it sound convincing. "You know how hard it is to get all of those head bolts on again! I could have really-!"

He was interrupted when Nudelmann came forth and smashed the empty vodka bottle against his head. Sasha fell back onto the ground in response as he fell unconscious. Unlike previous times when vodka bottles struck his head, this one shattered upon striking Sasha's forehead.

"You really need to get some rest more often," Nudelmann commented as he looked on at Sasha now taking a dirt nap. He then turned over to the I-16. "But I'll admit I _am_ curious as to what you did to the _Ishak this_ time." He then opened his other bottle of vodka and started drinking it.

He momentarily paused his drinking as he looked to Sasha to make another comment. "Also, it's about time you broke one of these with your head. Looks like it just took a little help." He then continued downing his vodka like a true Russian. That is, he finished it off in about ten seconds, and he then smashed the bottle against his forehead and shattered it.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	39. Kapitel 5,1,14

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Fünf-komma-ein: Extra Ein**_

 _ **Kapitel Vierzehn: Bungee**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Zuikaku,_ everyone from the Arts of Warfare programs was over by one of the sides of the ship. For whatever reason, they were all in their swimwear. Hanging over the side of the ship was a long bungee rope.

"This is the _Zuikaku's_ special courage bungee jump!" Momo announced to the Arts of Warfare members. She and the rest of the student council were in front of them facing the crowd. "We'll be bungee jumping from the top deck down to the water's surface so as to forge our nerve!"

The distance from the top deck where the rope was attached all the way down to the water's surface below was about 440 meters. Good tanks girls are advised to not try such an activity at home. Flyboys, knock yourselves out. This'll be a part of your training anyways.

"You got that, everyone?!" Momo continued. "From this training we will be able to vastly improve our skills! This will help us in our future fights! So is there anyone out there with the guts to take the plunge?!"

"I will!" Erich called out as he raised his hand. Everyone turned to him in response.

"Oh, come on, _Bubi!_ " Anton whispered over to him in complaint. He was beside him along with the rest of his friends. "I really wanted to see Momo take the dive and shit herself!"

Erich looked over to him and responded in a similar manner, "Hey, that's mean." He then grew a conspiring grin. "Besides, I have a plan of my own. You'll see it soon."

"… Fine…" Anton gave up.

Erich then turned over to the student council with his previous look. "Alright, where am I going for this?" he asked. He looked ready to take the jump already.

"Over here, Erich," Aprikose beckoned him to follow.

The bungee rope was very close to the crowd, and the student council plus Erich walked over to it. The crowd chose to stand at the ship's side to get a good view of Erich taking the jump.

In the meantime, Erich was having a quiet conversation with Aprikose. "That thing can fit two people safely, right?" he whispered his question.

"Yeah, no problem," Aprikose answered in his typical carefree manner.

"Good," Erich nodded as they arrived at the jump-off point.

As he was getting strapped into the massive jump, Erich lit up in remembrance. "Oh, hey _Miholein!_ " he called out. He then took off his GwZF4-fach. "Can you hold on to this for me?"

Miho looked over to him and raised her eyebrows. "Oh, sure!" she responded. She then started over to her lover.

As she reached him, Erich suddenly jumped out at her and wrapped his arms around her. "Huh?!" Miho responded in surprise.

" _Jetzt!_ " Erich cued. In response, the student council strapped Miho into the bungee jump as well in her own harness.

"What?!" Miho asked in confused panic. She then felt her harness get latched onto Erich's. Both were on the same rope. "What's happening?!"

"What's happening, _Miholein,_ " Erich began as he looked at her with a mischievous grin. He then pulled her over to the edge while still holding onto her. "Is that we're going to have some _fun!_ " he ended as he jumped off the edge and began falling to the water below with Miho still in his arms.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Miho screamed out in absolute terror while falling through the air.

" _Hurraaaaaaaaaa!_ " Erich yelled out in adrenaline. How opposed their reactions were had made some of those watching start snorting in amusement.

" _Du unreifes Kind! Ich werde dich für diese töten!_ " Miho screamed at Erich as they continued falling. She had an expression that combined terror with being pissed off.

" _Ja, ja! Ich liebe dich auch!_ " Erich responded with a smile on his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Nathan:_ The summary is a lie!

 _Anton:_ … Okay, so what's _Projekt Jägermeistern's_ 'The Legends Still Live On?'

 _Nathan:_ Well, you see-

 _Sasha:_ It's a spin-off where Sasha and Nudelmann are the main characters!

 _Nudelmann:_ Correct, Sasha.

 _Chuck:_ It's where testosterone-filled guys show up in swarms, start a huge firefight like a bunch of immature people, and end it with one of them getting the girl!

 _Sasha:_ Don't say immature!

 _Arthur:_ Well then everyone, please enjoy 'Arthur and the Hall of Quotes!'

 _Dennis:_ But that's not it…

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	40. Kapitel 6,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 _ **Bogen Sechs: Es ist die Herbstwoche der öffentlichen Moral Kontrolle!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Out in one of Ooarai High School's yards aboard the _Zuikaku,_ Lemu and Sodoko were getting mighty pissed off.

What was getting them so pissed was the sight of three groups of people that they knew held no respect for the school rules. There was the group of history buffs, the group of gamers, and the sports players.

Seeing the history buffs in their costumes, the gamers with their unruly looks and other additions, and the sports players in their sports uniforms, was enough to push them over the edge.

Finally, both Lemu and Sodoko exploded and loudly yelled out, "It's time to tighten discipline!"

"What the…?!" Wolf reacted in surprise.

XXXXXXXXXX

About a minute later, all of the offenders were grouped up on the floor. The girls except for Caesar, Piyotan, and Momoga were on their knees. The three girls not kneeling were seated on the ground, as were the boys. The groups were currently talking amongst themselves while waiting for Lemu and Sodoko standing before them to speak up. Both of the leaders of the Public Morals Committee looked a bit calmer than before, but they still easily looked pissed.

"Yeesh, could you understand that yell?" Alex asked Harry.

"Nope, not at all," Harry replied with an oblivious smile.

"So the rise of the lion has finally come, as the prophecy stated…" Gustav referenced among the history buffs.

"Is this another witch hunt?!" Abe questioned among the group.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Nekota kept apologizing as she hung her head.

"But they haven't even said anything yet," Nevi commented with the other gamers.

"It's high time this was drilled into your heads!" Lemu announced as he began addressing the groups. He then pointed at all of them. "You're all violating the school's rules!"

"You only _just_ realized that?" Wolf spoke up with a deadpan.

"Why now, of all times…" Leonidas similarly wondered.

"I'm sorry!" Nekota continued to apologize as she cried. The other gamers just awkwardly looked on at her.

"The week for strengthening the public morals begins now!" Lemu declared. "At school, you will properly wear the school uniform! Any additional accessories are forbidden! Only black hair is allowed, and absolutely no facial hair is allowed!"

" _Was?!_ " Wolf reacted in disbelief. He was in such a state because of his deep red hair under his peaked cap.

"But this is natural…" Harry tried to object as he pointed to his slight beard.

"You have until tomorrow to shave it off! And make sure to dye your hair, too!" Lemu ordered. He then folded his hands behind his back and continued. "For hairstyles, the ideal ones would be the same as ours, but we'll let that one slide! The correct length is to the shoulders! Girls, anything longer will have to be put into braids! Boys, you _must_ cut it down to shoulder level! That is non-negotiable!"

"This is tyranny!" Wolf objected as he raised his fist. "The rise of evil!"

"Your authority means nothing!" Abe objected as well.

"This is an unlawful expansion of your powers!" Gustav also objected.

"I'm gonna give you a taste of Spartan law!" Leonidas proclaimed as he drew his spear.

He was stopped, though, when Sodoko unrolled a scroll. The scroll was a license to control public morals, and it had the student council's stamp as a signature.

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time ago at an unspecified date, Anzu was in a room with many, many boxes of her favored dried sweet potatoes. She was getting a relaxing massage from some members of the Public Morals Committee. Kolari was massaging her shoulders while Satiainen was massaging her leg. Lemu was also there as he stood before her.

"Public morals?" Anzu asked as she ate another of her sweet potatoes. She was in her typical carefree mood again. "Eh, it's such a pain, so I'll leave it all to you guys."

Lemu then grew an evil grin at the permission he received for his committee.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Back in the present, the history buffs had recoiled in defeat at the revelation of the Public Morals Committee's authority.

"Guh!" Wolf grunted in defeat as he held the brim of his peaked cap with one hand.

"For a noble cause…!" Gustav similarly said in defeat as he clenched his teeth.

" _Kai sas,_ Madam President?" Leonidas wondered as he put his hand to his face in frustration.

For the moment, Seth was watching the history buffs' reactions. ' _For_ these _guys to submit to this kind of authority…_ ' he thought. He decided to end his thoughts there, as he didn't wish to imagine what awaited ahead of them.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that day, there were many members of the offending groups at the Akiyama Barber Shop. There were very few people of said groups that weren't there.

"We request your services, please…" all of them began.

"Welcome!" Yoshiko Akiyama greeted with a polite smile.

"Finally, some cust-oof!" Jungorou Akiyama began, but was cut off by his wife elbowing him in the ribs.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Christoph was entering the school grounds cheerful as ever. He was whistling as proof of how cheerful he was.

"Chris, good morning!" he heard an American voice greet him.

"Aye! Mor…" he turned to respond, but he trailed off upon seeing who it was who greeted him. It was another boy that had black hair and a chin area that appeared to be recently shaved. Also observable was him wearing the regular Ooarai uniform for the boys, that being black pants and a white button-up shirt with a green tie.

"Who are you?" Christoph finally spoke up in confusion.

"I'm the smasher of the badminton team! Harry Wilbur!" the 'new' guy responded with emphasis. Harry didn't look happy that he wasn't recognized.

XXXXXXXXXX

"For some reason…" Erich began as he and Miho entered the hangars later that day. "Today seems to be filled with unfamiliar faces…"

Erich had on his usual clothes, but he also had a slight rise underneath the rear of his jacket that betrayed the presence of something underneath it. Both he and Miho were simply looking on at everyone in a bit of confusion. A slight breeze was also passing through the opened hangar doors, something that a few girls had complained about.

Many of the people in the hangars appeared very unfamiliar at first, but in reality they were all the same people that were on the Arts of Warfare teams. They just had to bend to new regulations about appearances.

Among the changed groups were the history buffs. All of them were in normal Ooarai uniforms. Caesar had her hair in pigtails and dyed black, and she was without her usual Focale. Saemonza had her hair braided without her usual headband. Oryou had her hair pigtailed into a much tidier state than was usual for her, and she didn't have her usual coat.

Leonidas didn't appear that different minus the lack of his breastplate and spear. Abe was the same way, except he now lacked his top hat. Gustav, however, had his formerly light blonde hair now dyed black, and he also lacked his blue cuirass with a yellow cross.

Soon after, Wolf and Erwin approached them. Erwin had her hair dyed black and wore the normal girls Ooarai uniform without her signature coat and field cap. Wolf similarly had black-dyed hair replacing his deep red hair color. He also wore the normal boys Ooarai uniform without his signature dark green _Luftwaffe_ trench coat and peaked cap.

"Everyone…" Wolf greeted with a small wave. He and Erwin both had slightly awkward looks for their current situation. "Um… morning."

The other six history buffs turned to the two German history buffs, and both sides stared at each other for a second. They then all exploded into laughter at seeing how extremely different they all appeared. Their laughter continued for a while until they all exhausted their laughter out of them and grew some desire for their old looks.

Elsewhere in the hangars were the sports groups that were also different in appearances.

"Chris didn't recognize me…" Harry lamented.

"Hey, cheer up, er… Harry?" Alex responded unsurely. He now had his previously blonde hair dyed black, and he also had on one of Ooarai's normal uniforms instead of his badminton uniform.

"Why are you unsure?!" Harry yelled in response to Alex.

"Even without our uniforms, the Badminton Club's spirit won't falter as long as we have our hearts in it!" Ron proclaimed. He was also different with his formerly brown hair being dyed black. He also had on one of the normal Ooarai uniforms.

"I don't get that," Seth commented. Unlike the others, he didn't have to dye his hair, as it was naturally black. But he was also wearing a normal school uniform like the rest.

Erich and Miho then noticed one more group of people that appeared different. The first one they noticed was a somewhat tall boy with black hair of shoulder length. The hair appeared to be recently dyed.

"Who's…?" Miho began to Erich, but trailed off. Erich also looked curious about the boy's identity.

Said boy noticed the two Ooarai commanders out of the corner of his eye and shyly turned to them. "Ah…" he began with a shy smile. "I'm… Nevi…"

Miho looked on at him in disbelief for a bit before she and Erich looked to the rest of the gamer group.

"Bot one…" Dexter emotionlessly spoke up. He no longer had his gray hair. It was now dyed black.

"Bot two…" Mark spoke up in the same manner. His burgundy hair was dyed black like the others. The girls appeared similarly different in their appearances.

Across the hangar, the history buffs started to throw huge fits at their new appearances.

"We have no more individuality!" Gustav yelled out with displeasure.

"Our way of life is gone!" Wolf similarly yelled out.

From the entrance to the hangar, Lemu chuckled evilly as he and the rest of the Public Morals Committee watched everyone. They all soon stepped forth.

"My my, everyone!" Lemu began with a triumphant look. "Looks like you're all in high morals!"

"This pleases the Public Morals Committee!" Sodoko spoke up with a similar triumphant look. The rest of the committee members stood behind them with emotionless looks.

Everyone in the hangars turned to them in response. Many of them had looks of displeasure.

"So you showed up, Public Morals Committee!" Wolf hostilely greeted. "The dictators of pure evil!" He then tried instinctively grabbing his peaked cap, but he just noticed it wasn't there. "Ah, it's not here."

"Your sins are unforgivable!" Leonidas declared with similar hostility as he tried reaching behind him for his spear on instinct. But he just remembered it wasn't there, either. "Ah, it's not there."

"Question, Sodoko!" Noriko began as she lifted up her uniform shirt. She apparently had her usual gym clothes underneath. "Is it okay to wear gym clothes underneath?!"

"Huh?" Sodoko wondered. "Well, I guess that's fine."

"Great!" Noriko responded as she put her shirt back into its previous state.

"That's all you care about?" Ron muttered in wonder at Noriko's question.

"With this, Ooarai's dignity has been preserved!" Lemu proclaimed. "Ah, so pleasant!" He then turned away with the rest of the committee to leave.

"Continue being good kids!" Sodoko responded in a similar mood as she began to walk off.

"Grrr! How about I blow your D.520 apart in training with a 50 mm _Minengeschoß..._ " Wolf growled with clenched fists and teeth as the Public Morals Committee started to leave.

"Let's fucking do it!" Ron agreed with a passion as he swung his fist about.

"We'll be fine without the Ki-10," Leonidas spoke to Wolf. "He can't catch up to him anyway."

Before the Public Morals Committee could fully leave, Erich and Miho had approached them.

"Guys, I don't mean to tell you how to do your job, but isn't this being a little too harsh?" Erich asked. The committee stopped to look back at the two of them. "This is going to really affect morale for all of us."

Lemu then grew a dark look as he stared at the two of them.

"Er… Lemu?" Erich tried. Miho looked on at the committee with a lost look.

"Hair color, accessories!" Lemu barked at Erich and Miho as he pointed to the two of them. He then pointed in such a way as to dismiss someone. "Out!"

"What?!" Miho reacted in fear as she stepped back with a start. Erich just stared on at Lemu in confusion. "Ah!" Miho then yelped as she was grabbed from behind by Satiainen.

At the same time, Erich also felt someone try to grab him from behind, and he instinctively slammed his head backwards to break free. He had struck Kolari's head with his own and forced him to stumble back as he grabbed his head in pain. Lemu turned back to Erich in surprise.

Lemu then ran toward him in anger as he tried throwing a punch at him, but Erich ducked and sidestepped to escape his flying punch. After Lemu flew past and Erich placed himself behind him, Erich then threw a quick chop at Lemu's neck to stun him. It worked as Lemu stumbled and fell to the ground. As he tried to get up again, he heard the sound of a gun's bolt being cycled to ready, which stopped him dead in his tracks.

Lemu looked behind him to see Erich behind with his _Sturmgewehr_ 44 drawn and pointed directly at him. Erich held a professional stance with his rifle that suggested he was already highly trained with it as he looked at Lemu with a cold stare. The _Sturmgewehr_ itself was already loaded with a magazine containing thirty rubber bullets in the assault rifle's 7.92x33mm _Kurz_ cartridge size.

"You better order him to let her go," Erich gave Lemu his ultimatum. "Otherwise you're a dead man."

"The school's benefactors won't overlook this!" Lemu retorted with a cocky grin. "Everyone is already on their way to get you!"

As he said, hundreds of members of the committee started lining up at the front of the hangars by the hangar doors. Erich looked around the hangar and found each and every hangar door get blocked off by members of the committee. Lemu continued looking on at Erich with his cocky grin.

" _Bubi!_ " Erich heard Miho call out. He looked over to her to find her being held in a full nelson by Satiainen. Erich instinctively tried targeting Satiainen, but he stopped after realizing he would end up hitting Miho. "Get out of here! Don't worry about me!"

Erich looked back to the exits and to Miho as he tried deciding on what to do. He didn't much like being put in the position he was currently in, with deciding between the well being of himself and that of Miho.

During that time, Lemu had gotten up fully and stood at his same position with his same cocky grin. "Everyone, get him!" he ordered as he pointed at Erich.

Erich then saw the members blocking off the hangar doors start advancing toward him. Erich looked back to Miho with a more troubled look as she continued being held in a full nelson by Satiainen. Miho once again motioned for him to go on and leave her behind as she looked over to the closed side doors. Erich hesitated a bit before he nodded in regretful acceptance.

He then hardened and started off into a sprint over to one of the side doors for the hangars. He saw the door open up and reveal several more members behind it advancing to him. In response, he raised his _Sturmgewehr_ and opened fire at them. Erich dropped all of them within the seconds it took to empty the magazine. He then sprinted through the now cleared doorway as he reloaded the assault rifle with a fresh magazine from his jacket before he drew back the bolt again to chamber a round and ready the gun.

He looked back to find all of the Public Morals Committee members running after him with Lemu standing back at the hangar entrance Erich had exited. Lemu was looking on at the manhunt he ordered as he held his cocky grin.

"With Madam President's approval, we can do anything we wish!" Lemu proclaimed for everyone to hear. He then performed an evil laugh as he raised his hands in an appropriate way to fit the laugh.

XXXXXXXXXX

Authority can drive people mad. After the gunfight at the hangars, the management of the Public Morals Committee suddenly became much more vigorous. They justified their most recent changes to the school rules by presenting the hangar shootout as proof that the school needed more strict regulations.

Originally, it was planned for there to be just one week of reinforced public morals, which were solely meant to target the intolerable violators. However, with the Public Morals Committee Chairman Lenard Mulberry and Chairwoman Midoriko Sono wielding the big sticks of authority, their visions for a master set of morals would soon shape themselves into oppression for all.

XXXXXXXXXX

After escaping the rest of the committee members, Erich was hiding out atop one of the buildings with his _Sturmgewehr_ ready to go in a second. He kept his right hand around the pistol grip and the stock against his shoulder with the gun pointed down. He was now holding his GwZF4-fach with his left hand as he used it to scan the streets below for any of the committee members that were ordered to hunt him down.

He soon spotted Miho, Saori, and Anton being heavily escorted by other committee members into the Akiyama Barber Shop. Miho especially had many escorts around her, so as to make sure she didn't contact her lover that was also currently their main target. All of them looked defeated and hopeless as they were escorted along. He could guess that they were getting their hair dyed black like Lemu and Sodoko had determined for their new master set of morals.

"Don't worry," Erich quietly spoke as he looked on at them. "I'll save you all from this _Nazismus..._ " He then dropped his scope down again to hang around his neck. He brought his _Sturmgewehr_ to the ready as he went back into the shadows and continued moving on to throw the committee off his trail.

XXXXXXXXXX

The oppression of the Public Morals Committee went so far as to include those who had never done any wrong in their time at Ooarai. Such innocent victims included Christoph and Julius, who had never done any wrong during their short time at Ooarai. Nevertheless, they were among the many to be taken away by the committee. The official reason for their 'arrests' was because of their inappropriate hair colors. Inappropriate hair color or offensive attire suddenly became the _de facto_ reason for these arrests of innocent people.

Many bans were also instituted by the Public Morals Committee. Bans existed on things such as buying and immediately consuming sweets, loitering, study attitudes, and eating habits. Soon, the bans grew to include things like personal tastes.

Lemu's and Sodoko's master set of morals were soon proudly posted everywhere to inform everyone of what they were now expected to do. Those who disobeyed would face internment and even forced labor as punishments.

That still wasn't enough for the committee, so they also eventually started interfering with people's private lives, as well. However, an authority that goes too far will simultaneously give rise to resistance forces…

XXXXXXXXXX

One evening, Erich was in Anzu's office to speak with her. He had his _Sturmgewehr_ with him on his back as he stood before the President's desk.

"Please, Anzu," Erich requested. "We _have_ to stop them. These… _Führer,_ " he spat out the term derisively, "are going _way_ too far! They're having people arrested left and right for simply having different color hair! The entire committee is all acting like they're under _Nazionalsozialismus!_ Those committee members are practically _Schutzstaffel_ now!"

"It seems like they've gone too far, then…" Anzu mused as she sat within her chair. She was looking the opposite way out the window behind her as the sun continued setting.

"Definitely," Erich confirmed. "They _must_ be stopped. I refuse to let them oppress _anyone_ like that."

"Alright," Anzu determined. She then turned around to face Erich and look directly at him. "You have the go to initiate _Unternehmen Walküre._ "

Erich lost his previous attitude as he blinked in confusion upon hearing Anzu pronounce _Unternehmen Walküre_ as any other German would. He was, however, able to immediately recognize the dialect as being Bavarian. He then tried something to be sure of himself. " _Warte eine Minute, seit wann kennst du Deutsch?_ " he asked with a raised eyebrow.

" _Aprikose habt mich gelehrt,_ " Anzu revealed with her typical grin. Her German was flawless, but it was once again spoken in a Bavarian dialect.

Erich blinked again in response to seeing her speak his native tongue flawlessly, along with learning how she was even able to in the first place. "Wait, so you're both growing closer to each other?" he asked with a mischievous grin. "What's going on _there?_ "

Anzu grew a blush and looked away with an embarrassed look. "… Nothing for you to know…" she responded amidst her state. She then recovered her previous demeanor and looked at Erich again. "Anyway, you have your orders, Erich. Your troops await you."

Erich snapped into a straight stance as he shuffled his feet. " _Jawohl, Fräulein Präsident!_ " he confirmed as he brought his hand up to his eyebrow and saluted her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later after the sky went dark, Lemu had started to settle into his bed as he prepared to sleep. His Public Morals Committee armband was proudly placed on the nightstand beside his bed.

"Ah, so many people disobeying the school rules," he commented as he closed his eyes. "They'll all be indoctrinated soon enough, though…"

As he entered his sleep, he did not notice his apartment door start opening quietly. Behind the door was Erich in his usual clothing. Since it was mostly black, he blended in well with the darkness. He also had his _Sturmgewehr_ at the ready as he entered and scanned the apartment with it for any other hostiles.

He then pointed his assault rifle at the sleeping Lemu as he silently approached him. Upon reaching him, he saw Lemu move a bit before he tiredly opened his eyes. Erich quickly reacted to the sight.

"Huh?" Lemu wondered sleepily. He then widened his eyes upon seeing who was above him, and he tried to cry out, but he was too late. Erich quickly slammed the butt of his _Sturmgewehr_ down onto his head and knocked him out, which kept him silenced.

Erich then approached the door with his assault rifle at the ready as he opened the door and peeked out of it both ways. Upon seeing the surrounding area in the apartment complex clear, he went back over to Lemu. He used his left arm and hoisted Lemu up. He supported him with his left arm around his upper back under his armpits and with Lemu's right arm around his own shoulders. Erich dragged him out of his place in that state. His _Sturmgewehr_ was also at the ready in his right hand in case he ran into trouble.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile over at Sodoko's place, the four history girls were just outside awaiting someone's arrival. Finally, they spotted the one they had been looking for.

"There you are," Erwin noted upon spotting Erich walk over supporting the still unconscious Lemu. "Any difficulties?"

" _Nein, alles klar,_ " Erich replied.

" _Gut._ " Erwin then turned to the other girls there. "Alright, let's infiltrate. It's time for a 20th of July."

And so everyone there quietly entered Sodoko's apartment.

"That's against school regulations," Sodoko was heard. Everyone froze upon hearing her. Saemonza chose to risk getting a look at her, and she found her still asleep. Sodoko had muttered her phrase in her sleep.

Saemonza gave the all-clear signal to the rest, and everyone moved forth to her bed. They then began implementing their plan.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later as the sun began to rise the next morning, the resistance members that had performed _Unternehmen Walküre_ were by then gone without a trace.

"Uwah, that was a good sleep…" Sodoko commented while she woke up. "Well, it's another day to crack down on violators…" she noted while rubbing her eyes.

She then fully woke up and looked around her room.

"Wh-What the hell?!" she started in surprise. She saw Lemu laying on her bed beside her with almost nothing on him.

Her start was enough to wake up Lemu, and he woke with a start. "Wh-What?!" he started as he shot up. He then looked around and widened his eyes in great surprise.

Sodoko then chose to look more at herself. She found herself in a very slutty outfit that consisted of very short shorts and a top that was way too short to cover the midriff. She also had her hair styled in a huge poof of hair as she had extreme amounts of makeup applied to her face. She also had skanky and mismatched earrings hanging from her earlobes.

"Hello, it's the press!" they heard Taiga Ou greet as she entered Sodoko's apartment. The two Public Morals Committee leaders quickly turned over to her in response as she approached. "There are rumors floating around that the Public Morals Committee Chairpersons are actually-Wait, that's it! Scoop! Scoop!" She soon spotted Lemu and Sodoko in their current state and started furiously taking pictures of them. Both of the committee leaders tried resisting, but it was all in vain.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that morning, one of those pictures appeared on the front page of the Ooarai Spot. It was one where both Lemu and Sodoko were trying to shy away from the camera with their hands. The scoop it was in was one that ended up serving to humiliate the Public Morals Committee.

Below it were two more pieces. One was about Anzu and Aprikose. That article was about what the two Ooarai Presidents were supposedly doing with each other all day. Another article was guest-written by Mako and David. It was one where they wished for the days of old when Lemu and Sodoko were less powerful.

"Now that freedom and peace have come back to our school…" Erich commented as he stared at the same newspaper in his hand. "It seems like that was the right thing to do after all."

He then looked up from the paper to across the table from him. He was in his shared apartment along with the other person who lived there. "Isn't that right, _Miholein?_ " he said with his calm smile.

"Absolutely," Miho replied from across the table with a smile typical of her. She now appeared as she normally did. She was her typical cheerful self and no longer had her hair dyed black. Instead, it was its natural light brown color.

She then reached over and softly held his hand with one of her own. "It's all thanks to you, _mein Held,_ " she told him with her everlasting kindness.

XXXXXXXXXX

Next time, it's the central colors and Anzio!

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	41. Kapitel 7,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Sieben: Es ist das Ooarai Gegenmaßnahme-Treffen!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

On an unspecified date within the Rafale Fighter Café in Zürich, Switzerland, Nudelmann, Nonna, and Sasha were all having some drinks at a large table pre-reserved for them. Nudelmann and Sasha had vodka while Nonna chose to have some tea. All were in their normal school uniforms.

"Hello!" they soon heard two American voices greet them in a singsong tone. The Russians turned to find Kay and Chuck had come up to their table. Both were in their Saunders school uniforms.

"Did we keep ya waiting?" Chuck asked as he waved to the Russians.

"You're late, _amerikantsov!_ " Sasha snapped at them as the Russians stopped drinking for the moment.

"Not so loud, Sasha," Nonna told Sasha with her calmer demeanor in response as she held Katyusha against her. Katyusha was sleeping with one of the café's small delivery _Stukas_ in hand. Nonna then turned to the Americans. "Anyway, Katyusha got tired of waiting for you guys and fell asleep."

"Ah, sorry!" Chuck apologized.

"Did she get tired from playing with that toy of hers?" Kay asked in good nature.

"Anywho, those Brits aren't here yet?" Chuck asked as he and Kay sat down. Kay chose to press down the top turret on the small Boeing B-17 that served to initiate the _Jericho-Trompeten_ of the Junkers Ju 87. Such a siren served to notify the café when someone was ready to order.

"Not yet," Nudelmann answered. "I wonder if those two are off selling oil somewhere…"

Soon, a couple of people in the café's uniforms walked up to take the orders of the table. One was a guy and another was a girl. Both looked somewhat familiar to the Russians and Americans.

"May we take your orders, ladies and gentlemen?" the guy asked with an English accent.

"Get us two colas," Chuck requested.

"I'll have a second one of this," Nonna replied as she held up her cup of tea.

"Two vodkas, please," Nudelmann requested.

"Thank you for your orders," the girl thanked as she wrote the orders down in a small pocketbook reminiscent of a logbook. She also had an English accent. "They'll be ready shortly." The two then walked off.

But those at the table looked on at them for a bit longer. It eventually clicked that they looked _very_ familiar.

"Darjeeling?!" Kay exclaimed in surprise.

"Arthur?!" Chuck similarly exclaimed simultaneously.

"Oh, looks like we've been exposed already," Arthur commented as he and Darjeeling hung back at the table upon being discovered. Arthur then briefly performed a secret agent dance. "I've been wanting to practice my Bond skills, but it looks like they need some sharpening up!"

"I've recently been burning with a desire to serve people!" Darjeeling revealed as she struck a maid pose. In response, Arthur lost his mood and shuddered in horror upon remembering how the last time Darjeeling was a maid played out.

"Well that is incredibly splendid, comrades," Nudelmann granted. "But please extinguish your desires for today."

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Darjeeling and Arthur sat down at the table with their cups of tea. They were now in their regular school uniforms.

"So, what kind of tea party are we running today?" Arthur asked to start off.

"We're having an Ooarai countermeasure meeting!" Sasha told them in a way only he could.

"Why?" all four of the Anglo-Americans asked. The British had their tea while the Americans had a coke for each.

"So that we can beat them!" Sasha snapped at them.

"I heard rumors about how in Ooarai, it's a custom that the losing _Panzerkraft_ team has to dance an unladylike dance in public," Nonna elaborated.

"I also heard that the losing _Jägermeistern_ team has to set up the dance in only their underwear, while in plain view of everyone," Nudelmann revealed.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Chuck reacted in shock. Everyone there grew a mental image of the girls performing the Anglerfish dance in the anglerfish costume and the boys setting up said dance in just their underwear.

"Oh, how scary!" Darjeeling reacted. It was highly ironic considering she was the one who started the rumors.

' _But that doesn't sound all that bad…_ ' Sasha and Arthur thought as they both pictured Katyusha and Orange Pekoe respectively performing the Anglerfish dance in the costumes for it.

At that moment, Katyusha chose to wake up from her nap.

"Ah, morning, Katyusha!" Chuck greeted as he winked at the tiny Russian girl.

"You should wipe your face," Darjeeling suggested. In the meantime, two Italians were approaching the table from behind the Anglo-Americans. They were in outfits unique to _Il Duce_ and _Il Comandante_ of Anzio High School.

Katyusha wiped her face of the sleepiness while Arthur commented, "Also, your sleeping face was real cute."

Katyusha and Sasha both grew extremely angry at the remark and threw the nearest object they had at the Anglo-Americans. For Katyusha, this was the small delivery _Stuka_ she had while sleeping. For Sasha, it was one of his empty vodka bottles.

"Missed me!" Chuck remarked as the Anglo-Americans dodged. The objects missed the Anglo-Americans, but they did hit Franco and Anchovy who were behind them smack in the face.

"How dare you insult me!/Katyusha!" Katyusha and Sasha respectively exploded in anger simultaneously. "We'll purge you!"

"That's absurd that we would insult you," Arthur replied as he and the other Anglo-Americans hid behind the table that had gotten overturned during the two blonde Russians' tirades. Franco and Anchovy had both collapsed to the floor in the meantime, but nobody noticed them.

"Don't try and argue!" both blonde Russians sharply retorted. They were still angry at the comment from earlier. The two black-haired Russians simply looked on with blank looks at the scene of their countrymen on yet another of their huge tirades.

Elsewhere in the café, two specific people were secretly watching the scene unfold, as well. They were none other than Ooarai's two commanders in what appeared to be a date for them. However, it was far more than that.

For one, neither of them currently wore clothes that were considered normal for them. Miho was in her summer clothing which included her summer hat that helped obscure her face. Erich had worn his old Schwarzwaldspitze _Jägermeistern_ uniform, considering it was all he had that was different enough to help hide his identity. He chose to wear some sunglasses as well to help with obscuring himself. He also had on a throat mic.

" _Messer-Ein hier,_ " Erich spoke into his throat mic as he and Miho inconspicuously looked on at the scene caused by Sasha and Katyusha. "The targets have begun assembling, repeat, the targets have begun assembling."

XXXXXXXXXX

In another nearby café, the Leclerc Tank Café, Aprikose heard Erich's report as he held his hand to his ear. He then brought up his phone. "Understood. Continue observing them. _Würger-Zwei, aus,_ " he spoke into it.

"So an alliance, huh?" Anzu mused as she relaxed against Aprikose's side at their table.

The two Ooarai Presidents were in a similar situation as Erich and Miho were. That is, they looked like they were on a date, but it was really far more than that.

Both had on clothing that was unconventional for them so as to aid in concealing their identities. Anzu had on a white tank top along with a similar white short skirt. Aprikose had on a black long-sleeve shirt along with black pants. Both also wore ear buds that they could hear Miho and Erich through.

The big picture was that Ooarai was apparently spying on this international meeting of the minds.

XXXXXXXXXX

A short bit later, all of those who attended the 'meeting' met up with the rest of their comrades of their respective schools. They had met up in a park.

"It seems we've been kicked out for some reason," Arthur revealed upon meeting up with the others. He and the other Anglo-Americans looked rather oblivious to the fact that it was their fault they got kicked out of the café. Katyusha was on Sasha's shoulders again, and both still looked pissed from the earlier incident. Nudelmann and Nonna just looked on at the Anglo-Americans with impassive looks.

"What did you do this time?" Douglas wondered.

"You'll have to apologize later…" Dennis deadpanned. There were eight other Anglo-Americans there in total besides those who attended the meeting. There was the entire Saint Gloriana crew plus the whole Saunders crew. That was Orange Pekoe, Assam, Dennis, Douglas, Ray, Christian, Alisa, and Naomi. As the current events implied, the main leaders for many of the schools were gathered together for the day.

"Oh, well, it can't be helped," Darjeeling dismissed calmly. "Let's have our meeting another time. For today, let us broaden our friendship."

"Hey Sasha, I'm hungry!" Katyusha said to her steed. "Go get me something."

" _Da,_ " Sasha replied, and he kneeled down so Katyusha could get off. He and the other Russians plus the Americans then walked over to a food cart a little ways down the path.

Arthur, though, got an idea. "Oh, let's go, too!" he spoke up to the other British people. "There's a food cart over there!" He then looked over to Orange Pekoe. "Orange Pekoe, could you please wait at that bench over there?"

XXXXXXXXXX

So while most everyone else had headed over to the food cart, Katyusha and Orange Pekoe were seated at the bench Arthur had pointed out. Orange Pekoe waited for the others patiently while Katyusha looked bored as she crossed over her legs.

One officer of _die Stadtpolizei Zürich_ that was walking on patrol through the area happened to notice the two girls on the bench, and he chose to walk over and investigate.

"Hey, are you little girls lost?" he asked them as he approached.

"No, we're high schoolers," both Katyusha and Orange Pekoe responded as they looked over to him.

XXXXXXXXXX

At the same time, the others of the multinational gathering were walking back to the bench with some food in hand.

"How strange, though," Darjeeling commented. "There wasn't a cart with eel jelly."

"I think I've heard enough of that soul food," Arthur commented in distaste.

"Remind me to never try such a soul food," Sasha spoke up.

Both Arthur and Sasha then spotted Katyusha and Orange Pekoe being questioned by an officer of _die Stadtpolizei Zürich,_ and both boys widened their eyes at the sight.

"Orange Pekoe is being questioned!" Arthur reacted.

"I'll save you, Katyusha!" Sasha declared.

The two of them quickly sprinted up to the group, and the officer noticed them. He turned to them before asking, "Do you two know these two kids?"

"Yes!" both boys responded as they stopped before the officer. "We're their older brothers!" they further affirmed with confident smiles.

"Don't say that!" both Katyusha and Orange Pekoe cried out at them.

"Ah, well please keep a better eye out for your sisters, boys," the officer requested. "The city can be a dangerous place for anyone by themselves, no matter the country." The officer then walked off to resume his patrols.

The two boys then turned to the girls. "Now that that's sorted, we've got food for you," Arthur informed.

"Come on, Katyusha, let's have a seat," Sasha beckoned Katyusha.

"Why must you treat me like this…" Katyusha muttered, but she obeyed and sat down on the bench beside Sasha.

Sasha then pulled out what he had gotten from the food cart. He then poked into one of the hot meatballs with a fork and held it up. "I'll cool it down for you, Katyusha," Sasha informed her with a calmer grin.

"Don't treat me like a child!" Katyusha tried to snap, but she ended up sounding too childish for Sasha to take her seriously. The whole time, Arthur was watching their interactions as if studying them. Behind him was Orange Pekoe who was also eating meatballs.

Sasha then blew on the meatball to cool it down, and Katyusha looked on with an embarrassed look upon seeing Sasha continue with his current idea.

Arthur lit up with enlightenment upon seeing their interactions, and he quickly turned to Orange Pekoe. But the British girl quickly ate her last meatball, for she knew what Arthur was planning if she didn't finish right then.

So Arthur chose to switch gears as he pulled out a cloth. He then used it to wipe up Orange Pekoe's face with a determined smile. Sasha was also wiping Katyusha's face, but the tiny Russian girl tried to resist. The effort was in vain, though.

Assam was watching the scene as well as she ate a corndog. "Now what are you lads up to…" she mused to herself.

She then felt someone wipe their finger across her cheek near her lips, which cleaned up a bit of ketchup left on her face. Assam turned over to the hand in surprise.

"You had some ketchup there," Christian informed as he licked the ketchup off his finger. He had a calm yet confident look.

Assam then grew a blush and an embarrassed smile in response. "Th-Thanks…" she managed to thank despite her embarrassment.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the meantime, Sasha was eating some meatballs for himself while beside Katyusha. Kay and Chuck were close by to them eating out of their large popcorn buckets. Sasha noticed and turned over to the Americans.

"So it _is_ true that you guys eat stuff out of buckets," Sasha noted with his confident grin. "That's all fine and good now, but won't you eventually take on a similar drum-like shape later on?"

Kay paused her eating and pulled out her phone. She then showed it to Sasha. "Look, those are my parents," she informed with her typical cheerful mood.

"Good mother of God!" Sasha reacted in surprise at the picture. "They look like those people I see all the time on those fitness commercials!"

Kay then put her phone away. "Saunders is full of some really great products!" she informed. She then pulled up her uniform's white button-up shirt, which revealed a sort-of fat burner wrapped around her stomach. "This is one of them! No matter how much you eat, smart or massive, the portions you ate will be burned steadily!"

Sasha and Katyusha looked on at the device in a stunned state. Nudelmann and Nonna were calmly looking on behind him. ' _It's not like you have the choice to simply lower your portions…_ ' the black-haired Russian boy thought. Kay then dropped her shirt.

"But Katyusha, you should know that you need to eat more if you want to catch up to your comrades," Chuck informed from nearby with a bit of a teasing grin.

"I-I know that!" Katyusha snapped at him, but she also looked over to the other nearby Russians unsurely. All of the Russians were now eating out of popcorn buckets, as well.

"I'm still growing, you know!" Katyusha continued as she ate some more. "I'll catch up to them in a snap!"

The tiny Russian girl then heard some munching sounds beside her. She looked over to discover Sasha was also eating out of his own bucket.

In response, Katyusha leaned over to stop him from bringing his hand to his mouth. "Sasha, you're not allowed to eat until I catch up!" she insisted with her childlike demeanor.

"Am I seriously going to have to fast for _years?_ " Sasha deadpanned.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little after finishing her bucket, Kay and Douglas ended up being closer to each other for the moment, and Douglas took advantage.

"'Hey, is that your thumb in my soup?'" he began one of his 'jokes.' "'Don't worry, I'll wipe it dry later.'"

Kay burst out into laughter as she wrapped her arms around her torso as if grabbing her sides.

Douglas chose to continue with determination. "'Doctor! My body hurts whenever I press down on something with my finger.' 'Then your finger must be broken.'"

Kay started laughing even harder. "My sides!" she managed to get out amidst her laughter.

Douglas chose to continue on, as he had grown greatly inspired by hearing Kay's highly genuine laughter.

XXXXXXXXXX

With Orange Pekoe, she was watching Katyusha ride atop Sasha's shoulders again. This time, the tiny Russian girl was trying to catch a butterfly. Close behind them and looking on with grins were Nonna and Nudelmann.

"They're all really close, aren't they?" Orange Pekoe remarked. She then felt herself rising up off the ground, and she looked down in surprise. "Si-Sir Arthur?!" she cried in surprise.

"We can't lose!" Arthur determinedly stated as he started raising Orange Pekoe so that she rode on his shoulders. "Let us become more intimate!"

Arthur then tried raising himself, but he could not bend back his back to stand up straight. Orange Pekoe leaning forward over his shoulders altered his center of gravity so that it was far more unstable.

Arthur then turned and loudly beckoned, "Douglas! Doug-las!" He partly grunted out his name the second time because of the strain he was under.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Douglas notified in resignation. He could see what Arthur was up to and could only go along with his idea.

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon enough, Orange Pekoe was riding on the shoulders of both Arthur and Douglas. Her left leg was over Arthur's left shoulder and her right leg was over Douglas' right shoulder. Her current position made her start feeling uncomfortable. Contrastingly, Arthur and Douglas both held determined grins as Arthur's idea began coming together.

"And now, let's go!" Arthur declared.

"Yes!" Douglas confirmed.

"One… two…" both of them counted down, and they then started walking off. But they started off in different directions.

"No!" Orange Pekoe loudly cried out as her legs were forced outward. She had put her hands below her skirt and grabbed onto 'that' area as she cried out from the pain of her legs being forced apart.

From further away, all of the Americans were watching both the Russians and the British. Ray then saw Chuck's eyes brighten up in enlightenment. "What's with those eyes that say 'I was waiting for this?'" he muttered in wonder.

Chuck then turned over to Alisa. "So shall we do that as well?" he asked with an eager grin. "There's no need to hold back."

"What's with that?" Alisa asked with a bit of anxiety upon seeing Chuck's state.

"How about this, then?" Christian suggested as he lifted up Alisa bridal style with his confident grin.

"Hey! T-This is completely different!" Alisa barked in response with an embarrassed look.

"Doesn't look _too_ different," Naomi commented with an amused smirk as she watched the scene.

Kay then chose to jump onto Christian's back. "Hey!" she said with a singsong tone.

"Oof!" Christian reacted from the sudden weight increase as he stumbled forward a bit.

Coincidentally, passing near the area again was the same officer of _die Stadtpolizei Zürich_ that had passed by earlier. He was watching the scene of everyone trying to piggyback each other. The Russians were just looking on at the Anglo-Americans trying to copy them. The British were all on the ground after collapsing from a lack of coordination from Arthur and Douglas. Orange Pekoe was currently holding 'that' area of hers again in pain. Christian was managing to stand while supporting the weight of both Alisa and Kay, but it was a rough go for him as he wobbled somewhat.

"They really need some better discipline," the officer commented before he walked off and pretended to have never seen the events that just occurred.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere at the Rafale Fighter Café, Franco and Anchovy were each having a cup of coffee with each other at a table. They were all patched up from the injuries they had suffered earlier from Sasha and Katyusha.

"… What?" they both finally and randomly asked in confusion. Perhaps they had not fully recovered from the blows to their heads.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	42. Kapitel 7,5,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Sieben-komma-fünf: Extra Zwei**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Es ist die Melancholie von Iwan!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Kiev_ in Sasha's office, an interrogation had just begun. The one being interrogated, Ivan, was standing before Nudelmann and Sasha himself. Both of Pravda's _Jägermeistern_ leaders looked on at Ivan with calm looks that also managed to seem intimidating. Nudelmann had his hands folded behind his back while Sasha was sitting behind his desk. Everyone there was in Pravda's normal school uniform.

"Um…" Ivan began in total cluelessness. "What's the meaning of this?"

"We want you to answer some questions for us," Nudelmann requested. "Is that okay, comrade Ivan?"

"Huh?" Ivan wondered in confusion. He quickly recovered upon remembering he was currently under the gaze of two of Pravda's most powerful people. "Y-Yes! Of course!"

Nudelmann then brought out one of his hands from behind his back, which held a tape recorder. "Do you happen to recognize this voice?" Nudelmann asked. He then pressed the play button.

" _Man, it sure is cold out, isn't it?_ " the voice of a certain Canadian was heard through the tape recorder. Nudelmann then hit the pause button.

Ivan thought about the voice for a bit before he lit up in recognition. "Oh, I know that voice!" he said. "I talked to him over the radio when I was getting my _Ishak_ rearmed and refueled."

Nudelmann then extended his other hand, which held a picture of the voice's speaker. "That was Nathan McBraun, one of the ground crew members for the _Khudoy_ that belongs to Ooarai High School," Nudelmann revealed.

Ivan then froze up upon finding out who he had talked to. He had started sweating in nervousness upon recalling he had spilled the details of Pravda's patrol patterns for their marked man and its assigned guards to Nathan during their fight against Ooarai.

"You know this person, _right?_ " Nudelmann asked Ivan, who was now trembling as he looked at the picture of Nathan. "It seems like you got along with him and had some idle chit-chat with him during the cease fire." Nudelmann then stepped aside and revealed one of the I-16's ground crew members. It was specifically the one who had asked him who he was talking to during the aforementioned incident. "Comrade Igor, this is true, no?"

Igor, as he was now known, remained silent as he held a nervous look. At the same time, Ivan was begging him with his eyes to not say anything.

"It's…" Igor began. He then lowered his head in defeat. "The truth, comrade Nudelmann… He told him… the details of the patrol patterns for the marked man's flight…"

Ivan tried to motion for Igor to stop, but it was to no avail, and he turned back to Nudelmann and Sasha with a much more fearful look.

Sasha then slowly got up from his desk and started over to Ivan with Nudelmann. "You leaked intel to a spy…" Sasha slowly stated so as to be clear and intimidating.

"Comrade Ivan, those are the facts, no?" Nudelmann asked in a similar intimidating manner. Both of Pravda's _Jägermeistern_ leaders then arrived at Ivan's sides. They effectively towered over him now. "Answer the question, comrade Ivan."

"I want to know if you leaked intel about our school's marked man to a spy," Sasha requested as the two Russians continued intimidating Ivan. Ivan was shaking in fear at the fate he could potentially face.

Upon hearing him not answer, Sasha leaned closer to Ivan. "I hope you've prepared yourself for the purge, comrade Ivan," he quietly spoke into his ear as a great threat.

"Huuuuuuuuugh, please forgive me…" Ivan managed to groan out. "For Ivan committed an irreparable mistake…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Ivan had noticed Nudelmann return to having his normal calm grin. As Sasha continued trying to stare Ivan down, Nudelmann brought up a large dial bore gauge meant to measure the cylinder bore diameters for cylinders the sizes of those in aircraft engines. He then gestured for him to offer it forth to Sasha, and Ivan lit up in enlightenment as he understood what was being implied.

"Well, I wonder how many rubles Katyusha wants for this!" Sasha spoke up as he turned away. He pulled out his phone and sent a message off to Katyusha to find out.

During that time, Ivan took the dial bore gauge from Nudelmann and returned to his previous spot.

Sasha then got a message back from Katyusha detailing how many rubles she wanted. He then turned to Ivan to inform him. "Alright, you better save up… Huh?" he started but trailed off in confusion.

He had grown confused upon seeing Ivan offering him a large dial bore gauge as a gift. Sasha held his confusion before he grew a great grin of pleasant surprise. He approached Ivan and took the dial bore gauge in one hand while slapping him on the back with the other.

"Oh, as long as you understand, then all is forgiven, comrade Ivan!" Sasha enthusiastically told Ivan. "I don't fuss over the small and insignificant problems!"

Ivan meanwhile held an awkward smile of nervousness as he wondered why Sasha was acting this happy over getting a tool.

Sasha then turned to Nudelmann. "Hey Nudelmann!" he called out to him. "Comrade Ivan is a pretty nice guy!"

" _Da,_ as you say," Nudelmann agreed.

Sasha then turned back to Ivan. "Anyway, just make sure you're more careful of spies from now on!" he continued in a great mood.

" _D-Da!_ Of course!" Ivan replied in his still awkwardly nervous manner. "My sincerest apologies!"

" _Do svidaniya, tovarishch!_ " Sasha said in a singsong tone while waving goodbye as he left his office with his new tool.

After Sasha left, Ivan turned to Nudelmann with a look of relief. "Nudelmann, thank you for saving me!" he greatly thanked. "How can I show you my gratitude?"

"As long as you understand your mistake, then everything is fine," Nudelmann responded.

"Ah, well if that's so, then-" Ivan started as he prepared to leave, but a grip on the back of his shirt held him back. Ivan looked confused as he was forced to face Nudelmann. The Russian ace then brought Ivan to stand directly in front of him facing the other way.

" _Chto?_ " Ivan uttered in confusion as he started sweating nervously. Nudelmann had leaned his head close to his own, and the Russian ace still held his calm grin all the while as he held Ivan's shoulders.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	43. Kapitel 7,5,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Sieben-komma-fünf: Extra Zwei_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau - Der Fürst, das Mädchen, und die Schutzstaffel_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Ah! I'm late, I'm late!" Anchovy cried as she quickly ran down the street. She was in her unique outfit as _Il Duce_ of Anzio, which included her crop in her right hand. She also had a piece of toast in her mouth at the moment. Evidently, she was on a very tight schedule.

She soon reached a crosswalk and ran through it without looking both ways, a mistake she would pay for.

"Ah!" she cried out as Ooarai's _Panzer_ IV H and _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ blew past her. The two vehicles went around both in front of and behind Anchovy. The Italian girl ended up falling to the ground when the vehicles blew past her.

Both of the vehicles immediately skidded to a stop at an angle after passing Anchovy, and Erich-Dietrich Hartmann jumped down from the _Acht-Acht's_ platform. He was in an all-black uniform reminiscent of one for the _Schutzstaffel,_ including the black boots.

Miho Nishizumi also stepped down from the _Panzer_ IV H's commander cupola in a more calm way. She was also in an all-black uniform, but hers featured a very short black skirt that showed off much of her upper legs plus a black short sleeve shirt that stuck to her and easily revealed her curves. Said shirt also exposed her whole midriff before it covered up her rack. She also had some black high heels on. Both of them had eagles on shoulder patches that appeared similar to a _Reichsadler,_ but without the _Hakenkreuz._

Upon getting down to the ground, both of the Germans drew weapons on Anchovy and aimed them at her. Erich drew his _Sturmgewehr_ 44 with great anger visible on his face. Miho calmly drew a Walther P38 that she held like a professional as she looked at Anchovy with displeasure written on her face.

"Hey! _Du Schlampe!_ " Erich barked at Anchovy. " _Ausweichen!_ Or next time we'll take down Italy ourselves!"

All Anchovy could do was lay there as she started tearing up in fear. Miho simply looked on at her without a single hint of remorse as the two Germans kept their weapons aimed at the Italian girl.

"Aaaaaaargh!" Erich eventually yelled out in frustration as he stomped his foot. He was upset at getting stopped because of Anchovy. " _Fick dich, du Hure!_ " he gave a final parting to Anchovy as he pointed at her. He and Miho then chose to remount their vehicles. Both the _Panzer_ IV H and _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ then sped away and left Anchovy out there in the middle of the road.

The Italian girl soon recovered from the verbal, emotional, and nearly physical torture and sat up. "Man, what's wrong with them?" she wondered as she rubbed her ear. "How rude..."

She then heard some footsteps approach. She next saw a hand offer her a way to stand up. She looked to it in confusion before she followed it up the arm and to the face. Upon seeing the face, she lit up and grew hearts in her eyes along with a blush on her face.

"Are you all right, _Fräulein?_ " Alfred-Joachim Hartmann asked her with a calm grin that said he was friendly. He was in his normal school uniform for Schwarzwaldspitze, but there was the addition of a fancy collar around his neck similar to one a prince would have worn centuries ago.

' _Oh, what a marvelous prince!_ ' Anchovy thought in delight. ' _This must be a fated encounter, there's no mistaking it!_ '

The Italian girl then grew sparkles in her eyes along with a huge smile that betrayed her huge crush. "Um… I'm Anchovy from Italy's Anzio High School!" she introduced herself in her current state. She then brought her hands together in front of her. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, and under the premise of marriage, please go out with me from this point on!"

Alfred in response brought her to her feet with a big hug. "We shall be wed and have wonderful children together!" he promised as he held the Italian girl. "Our first son shall be called Erich and our first daughter shall be called Miho! We shall live a happy life with our children and each other forever!"

"Oh, darling!" Anchovy sighed in admiration as she hugged Alfred back with an elated expression.

From a nearby building corner, someone else was watching the two of them from behind the corner. It was Hans Jochen in his Schwarzwaldspitze school uniform.

' _Du verdorbene Schlampe!_ ' he angrily thought with a face to match as he looked at Anchovy. He was so angered that he was able to start crumbling the building corner with just his bare hand.

XXXXXXXXXX

Contents are subject to change between preview and final product. There is no guarantee that there will be a final product.

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	44. Kapitel 8,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Acht: Unternehmen Diät!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"On this day in history, I declare the Ooarai Fitness Club to have been founded!" Anton proclaimed.

"Hooah!" all but two members chanted in agreement. The members of said club were Anton, Zitrus, Dexter, Gustav, Saori, Yuzu, Piyotan, and Oryou. The last two did not chant in agreement.

All of the guys wore black gym shorts for the time while the girls wore their own fitness clothes. The girls had on some black shorts that were more form fitting along with black tank tops that exposed their midriffs, also form fitting.

All of the guys then stood before the girls, and Anton started walking back and forth in front of the girls. "Are you girls scared of scales?!" he barked out in a manner much like an American drill sergeant.

"Yeah!" both Saori and Yuzu replied as they raised their fists.

"Yeah…" Piyotan and Oryou lazily replied as they half-heartedly raised their fists.

"And you love your snacks, don't ya?!"

"Yeah!" Saori and Yuzu replied the same way as before.

"Yeah…" Piyotan and Oryou lazily replied.

"Well it's high time we solve that little conundrum of yours!" Anton announced as he came to a stop. He then spread his arms behind him as a gesture to the other guys with him. "All four of us are here to help you however possible with achieving this goal you've set for yourselves!"

"I've been a bit negligent lately…" Yuzu revealed.

"Oh, this is going to save me!" Saori dreamily stated.

"I just got dragged along for the ride," Piyotan said. "I'm not really…"

"I don't really care, either…" Oryou opined.

"Oh, really?!" Anton questioned as he came over to Oryou and Piyotan. "Stiffen those abs!" he barked at them.

Piyotan and Oryou didn't look enthusiastic, but they obeyed, for they knew Anton wouldn't take no for an answer. Anton then lightly tapped both their abs with one of his fists.

"You call those abs?!" he barked in wonder. "Those are the softest bellies I have ever had the pleasure of feeling, even taking into account that I can only go off of _Bubi's_ word for the feelings!" He then turned back and headed for the other guys before facing the girls again. "Well it's a good thing I've got the kitchen sink lined up for you all first! It's high time you started getting into shape!"

And so begins a dated record of some worrying girls being forced by some of their friends to swallow their fears and actually make progress toward their goals.

XXXXXXXXXX

"And today, we will start with joining in the training routines of the former Badminton and Volleyball Clubs!" Anton announced as he and the others of the Fitness Club stood before the Volleyball and Badminton clubs.

"No problem!" Ron granted as he and Noriko greeted them with enthusiasm. Ron had his racquet in hand while Noriko had a volleyball with her. "And feel free to join either of our clubs anytime!"

"We'll pass on that part," Anton replied to the second statement.

And so the guys and girls underwent the training regiments of both of the sports groups. Their training regiments were actually vastly similar considering both sports were played somewhat similarly.

One of the first things done was having everyone try to receive the ace serves from Noriko and Ron. The guys all had racquets for trying to return Ron's badminton serves, while the girls focused more on trying to return Noriko's volleyball serves. While it was difficult and taxing, all of the guys were able to return Ron's serves. The girls were not so well off. Only Saori and Yuzu could try returning Noriko's serves. Piyotan and Oryou had already given up after a few serves.

Next up came some extreme conditioning of both clubs. Such conditioning included balancing a volleyball on the head while kneeled to the ground with hands behind the back. The guys had it even harder, considering they had to try balancing a racquet from the handle end on their big toe while laying down with their legs extended upward to the sky.

Another part of the conditioning included hanging from a pull-up bar by the legs with a cup. There was a bucket of water on the ground, and the cup had to be used to get the water up to another bucket hanging above the pull-up bar. The only way to do it was by using the abs to sit up.

Also part of said conditioning was hanging upside down by the feet from the ceiling. For the guys, it was taken even farther, and they had to also hit shuttlecocks being tossed to them by Ron with their racquets.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, all of the girls were bruised and beat from the training. The guys were also tired, but they could go for more if needed.

"Now I know why both of them lack club members…" Oryou commented as the girls all sat on the ground.

"You're right…" Yuzu and Saori agreed.

"Come on, you girls can't be tired already!" Anton said to the girls as the guys stood before them. He then pulled out his phone to check the time. "Oh, fine, I guess you can have a break. But we've got more to do, so don't think this is the end!" Anton ended as he put up his phone and granted the girls to have a break.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later on, the girls were fully recovered, and along with them now were Akebi and Harry, the sports clubs' most aerobic people. Both were now in the same outfits as the Fitness Club members.

"Oh, was the normal training too harsh for you all?" Harry asked. "What do you say to some aerobics instead?" he suggested as he and Akebi performed a short aerobics demo.

"Aerobics sounds great!" Saori answered.

"Let's do that," Yuzu agreed.

"That sounds like something good. Let's do it!" Anton proclaimed.

"All right!" Akebi enthusiastically stated. "Let's start!"

And so all of the guys and girls there started performing aerobics to some music. Harry and Akebi led everyone in the aerobics.

"This is it!" Saori remarked in satisfaction as the aerobics carried on. "This is what I've been waiting for!"

It was also notable that Piyotan was already getting tired from the aerobics after only a few minutes in.

An hour later, both Oryou and Piyotan had already collapsed from exhaustion. Saori and Yuzu were also getting very tired. But Akebi and all of the guys were still going without breaking a sweat.

Four hours later, Saori and Yuzu had finally given up as they collapsed from exhaustion. But once again, Akebi and all of the guys were still going strong. The guys besides Harry appeared a bit tired, but it wasn't so extreme so as to prevent them from continuing on.

"Huh?" Akebi eventually asked in confusion while in the midst of a one-legged twirl with the other leg straight up in the air. "You're already taking a break?"

"Hey!" Anton barked at the girls as he and the guys continued. They were now performing some intense aerobics with Harry, which currently included quickly kicking their legs up high into the air with their arms crossed in front of them. "I didn't say you could take a break now! So get up and get your lazy behinds moving!"

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day near the end of lunchtime, all of the girls for the new club chose to head over to the hangars in an effort to find one specific person. They soon found them eating a colossal amount of potatoes by the _Panzer_ IV H alongside another particular girl, and the group chose to approach.

"You keep eating that much, but why don't you ever get any fatter, _Bubi?!_ " Saori yelled in frustration.

Erich was highly startled by the shout, as was Miho as they sat atop the _Panzer_ IV together eating lunch. Erich had started choking on one of his potatoes because of being startled, but he soon hacked it out.

" _Mein Gott,_ you scared the _Scheiße_ out of me with that," Erich responded as he regained his breath. "But I don't really do anything that special, you know. That's probably just metabolism at work."

"Yeah," Miho confirmed as she also regained her calm demeanor. "If you really want the confirmation, Saori, then no, I haven't seen him get any fatter."

Erich then got down from the _Panzer_ IV and started over to his Bf 109 K-4. "But if you're talking about something that I actually do, then perhaps flying in combat is what's doing it," he continued as he settled down into the _Messer._ "I get pretty hungry from all the concentration that I need."

"I see…" Saori realized as she looked on at the Bf 109 taxi out of the hangar.

"How active," Oryou remarked as she looked on.

The _Jägermeistern_ team had previously decided to hold an impromptu practice right after lunch, which is why Erich was taking off at the moment. The rest of the pilots had all challenged Erich to a one against all type of fight. They wanted to see what was needed to take down one of the world's top two aces.

And so the girls of the Fitness Club plus Miho watched all of them start their fight after they all got airborne. They then witnessed Erich absolutely annihilate everyone with extreme precision and unbending mercilessness. Nobody ever managed to hit him during the fight, either. The fight itself only lasted a few minutes before the last of the enemy fighters was obliterated by the unstoppable blond-haired German ultra-ace.

After landing, all of the other pilots walked away from their fighters after parking them in front of the hangars. As they walked off, they had looks that displayed amusement mixed with humiliation at not only being defeated, but also being absolutely annihilated, even though they had a seven-to-one numerical advantage. It was a situation that they had originally not foreseen, but later figured was predictable with the benefit of hindsight.

All of the Fitness Club girls looked on at the _Messer_ coming in to land with their jaws dropped in amazed wonder. Miho noticed their looks and silently giggled as she held a hand to her mouth. ' _It's not just because of luck that he's gotten literally several hundred kills in such a short time span,_ ' she thought at the same time.

Last to come to the hangars was Erich himself in his Bf 109 K-4. After he swung open the canopy and shut the engine down, he looked absolutely exhausted as he climbed out. "Haa…" he sighed. "I'm beat…"

"Here, _Bubi,_ " Miho said to Erich with a calm and inviting smile as she approached him and came beside him. She then walked off with him with her arms around his upper body. "I've got a big serving of _Kartoffeln_ just for you."

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the Fitness Club girls headed off elsewhere, but soon they spotted Ayumi and Mesut approach. Mesut had a bag over his shoulders.

"Oh, hey!" Ayumi greeted as she and Mesut approached the group. "I heard that some of you upperclassmen were on a diet, so I have some of the current recommended diet goods for you to try out!"

"Oh, thank you!" Saori thanked her with a great smile. "You're a life saver!"

"Mesut, let's get on it!" Ayumi told Mesut so as to cue him.

" _Jawohl!_ " Mesut replied as he took the bag off of his shoulders.

And so the two freshmen began to demonstrate the stuff they brought for their upperclassmen.

Mesut had first wrapped up Oryou in a full-body corset of sorts. He then wrapped a cast of sorts around Saori's stomach.

"These are the slim body correction corset and super fat burning cast!" Ayumi detailed as Mesut wrapped Oryou and Saori in said objects.

"Ngh…" Saori groaned out as the air was forced out of her.

Next, Mesut handed Yuzu a bowl of rice that had something blue sparkled over it. He also handed Piyotan a large amount of bottles.

"Control the amount of your food intake by sprinkling it with blue sparkles to lose your appetites!" Ayumi continued to detail. "And just by drinking these you can get slim! Well, maybe… Anyway, those are all of my diet supplies for you! Have a nice day, and good luck!"

Ayumi and Mesut then headed off and left the girls with their new things.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day at lunchtime, Erich and Miho walked up to a lunch table they noticed had Saori at it. She was there with Oryou, Yuzu, and Piyotan. None of them looked very well. Yuzu and Piyotan were eating some of their food that was sprinkled with blue sparkles.

"Ugh…" Saori groaned as she suffered from her body being forced to get skinnier from her super fat burning cast.

"Water…" Oryou moaned out while trying to pick up a glass of water. She couldn't, though, because of the slim body correction corset she had on.

"Um, girls?" Erich wondered with a raised eyebrow. He and Miho had stopped as they looked on in a bit of confusion at all of the girls at the table. "Are you all okay?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that afternoon after recovering from their diet goods and discontinuing them, all of the girls chose to create a makeshift sauna.

"Confining yourself in a sauna is the current standard!" Saori claimed as all of the girls sweated from the heat. "We'll lose all of our body weight in one go!"

"Girls!" they all heard Anton bark out from outside their makeshift sauna. "What in the goddamned hell are you all doing?!"

"We're just borrowing this for a bit!" Saori responded from inside the makeshift sauna. The so-called 'sauna' was really just the I-Go otsu that belonged to _Duck_ Team.

"What's the meaning behind this bullshit excuse for exercise?!" Anton barked out at the girls from outside. He and the other guys of the Fitness Club were also there.

"Get out of there!" Zitrus demanded.

"You're gonna make that thing rot of excessive sweat!" Dexter warned.

"Get out of the I-Go!" Gustav demanded. All of them then tried to move to drag them out.

"Hot!" all of the guys yelled out as the scolding heat of the armor burned their hands.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that day, Anton and the guys had their hands taped up from the burns they suffered. All of the girls stood before Anton as he paced around in front of them.

"You're all the laziest loads of spoiled shit I have ever seen!" he barked at them. "Losing weight does not come without cost, and that cost is physical fatigue from getting some goddamned exercise!" He then brought up his bandaged hands as he stopped amidst the guys. "Now since we can't effectively lead this charge, I will temporarily hand off this duty to some people who certainly can!"

All of the girls then noticed two people in officer uniforms for the JSDF approach. One was of the JGSDF while the other was of the JASDF.

"Captain Chouno and Captain Honda?!" Saori identified in surprise.

"I heard it, alright!" Muto began as he and Ami approached the group.

"You girls seem to have some difficulties with dieting?" Ami wondered.

Both of them then tore off their officer uniforms in one fell swoop, which left them in some camouflaged versions of the fitness clothes everyone else wore. Both had quite the bodies that they had acquired from their physical training programs for their services.

"Well then, how about you all enlist in the JSDF's boot camp!" Muto suggested.

"All of you can get the bodies of warriors in an instant!" Ami guaranteed.

All of the girls then started imagining how life would be with the bodies of the two JSDF officers. Saori imagined greeting Miho and Erich one morning while effortlessly holding Mako upside down by one of her legs. Yuzu imagined greeting Momo with her body. Oryou imagined something relating to kotetsu for the night while holding a dagger. Piyotan imagined going on a manhunt. All the while, all of their imaginations included Ami and Muto barking orders at them.

Finally, Saori chose to approach the two JSDF Captains and gently push them away.

"Eh?" both Muto and Ami wondered in confusion.

"No thanks," Saori denied the boot camp invitation. ' _Besides, we've already got Anton pulling off the drill sarge role pretty well if you ask me,_ ' she also thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

So in the end, the girls chose to go with _Unternehmen Iss Nicht._ That is, they chose to not eat.

The next day, Yuzu was with the rest of the student council in her normal school uniform, but she had a real exhausted look as she held some papers.

"Hey, you okay?" Zitrus asked.

"I'm fine…" Yuzu managed to get out tiredly as she set the papers on Anzu's desk. At the same time, her stomach growled. Upon hearing her stomach growl, she chose to grab her rack as she looked down at it. "In theory, if I eat these, then I shouldn't gain weight no matter what."

" _Geh weida, Yuzulein!_ " Pfirsich reacted in shock.

"But won't it just go from your chest to your stomach instead?" Anzu nonchalantly wondered as she had another of her dried sweet potatoes. She was lying on one of the other tables nearby.

"Ah…" Yuzu seemed to understand as she released her rack and rubbed the back of her head.

" _Please_ shut up, _Anzulein,_ " Aprikose requested with an exasperated tone. Anzu was lying against him for the time being as he sat at the table with his back against the edge. "That's not something I want to imagine in a thousand years."

XXXXXXXXXX

Around the same time, Piyotan had met up with all of her friends looking like she didn't have much energy. She also had her uniform on.

"Hey, Piyotan, how about we play a game as a change of pace?" Dexter offered with the rest.

"All right…" Piyotan replied without much energy. And so all of them decided to play a game on some handhelds of theirs.

During the game, Piyotan saw her character holding up a large well-done piece of chicken still on the bone. She drooled at the sight. "It's well-done…" she moaned out.

She then started trying to eat her handheld with a great desire for food.

"Piyotan?!" Mark, Momoga, and Nekota reacted in surprise.

"Is this 'Attack on Piyotan?!'" Neville wondered as he looked on in surprise.

"The cake is a lie!" Dexter spoke up as he also looked on in surprise.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, the whole Fitness Club chose to confine in the misty sauna of one of the large public baths aboard. All of the guys had towels wrapped around their waists while the girls had one wrapped to cover their racks and groin areas.

"Alright!" Anton barked out. "Since you princesses can't even perform any basic exercise at your current fitness levels, then I'm letting you get away with just reaching half of your goal! Hooah?!"

"Hooah!" everyone replied affirmative.

"After this, we should use the I-Go as a sauna again," Saori suggested.

At the same time, Anton noticed Saki at the entrance to the sauna, also wrapped in a towel. "Oh, hey Saki," he greeted in a friendly manner. "What's up?"

Saki remained silent for a bit before she finally began, "Girls… start to burn fat at the chest first."

Upon hearing that, all of the other girls chose to immediately run out of the sauna with their arms wrapped protectively around their racks. Saki and all of the guys there looked on at them run out. The guys all had lost looks.

"Huh, well that's something I did not know," Anton remarked. He then turned to Saki. "Anyway, you wanna relax in the sauna with us?"

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day, all of the members of _Anglerfish_ Team and _Messer-Ein_ were gathered to eat lunch together. All were in their school outfits. Most notable at the moment was Hana having some of her typical big servings along with Erich and his even larger servings of potatoes. Surprisingly, though, Saori also had some more generous servings of food than was usual.

Erich noticed Saori's different behavior and paused his devouring of potatoes to offer comment, "Oh, so you finally stopped with your diet?"

Saori blushed a bit as she tried responding, "W-Well, your health is what's most important, right?" She then dug into some of her food as she continued. "I read in a magazine that boys actually prefer girls that are just a bit chubby! Since a lively appearance without being afraid to eat the things most desired is the most charming one!"

" _Sure_ it is…" Anton muttered with a deadpan as he ate his own food.

Erich and Miho looked to each other with amused grins as they heard Saori's 'expertise' on romance. They were thinking just how very wrong Saori was judging by their own vast experience with each other.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, Saori was again on her scale with a towel around her. She was nervous about the scale's current reading.

"… Ah," she grunted in nervousness at the reading she had considered to be too high for her.

XXXXXXXXXX

And so the next day, all of the members of the Fitness Club were gathered once again in the fitness outfits. The girls were looking frustrated while the guys looked on at them in a deadpan.

"You're fucking kidding me," Anton finally spoke up as the previous events looked set to fully repeat themselves.

XXXXXXXXXX

It's important to just give up sometimes. This is just how girls diet, and unfortunately guys have no choice but to accept it.

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	45. Kapitel 9,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Neun: Es ist Weihnachten!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Ah, today is the long-awaited Christmas day!" Saori happily revealed with admiration in her voice. Her hands were together as she wore a Santa hat. "Snow is falling, couples are arm in arm with each other… This is the best day of the year! Perhaps something great awaits me, too!"

"Man, Saori's going _all_ out this year, huh?" Anton wondered with a grin. He also had a Santa hat on. He then turned around. "But regardless, why the hell are we below the equator?!" he yelled out with a look saying he wasn't happy about it.

Around him were many of his other friends plus the sports groups, some of the freshmen, and the entire student council. All were in swimwear. All of his friends there included Saori, Miho, Erich, Herz, and Hana. The entire student council plus all of the present members of _Anglerfish_ Team and _Messer-Ein_ were also wearing Santa hats. The girls of _Anglerfish_ Team took it a step farther and wore part of the outfit Santa is known for wearing. It only included the uppermost part, which covered just the shoulders, along with some long gloves styled the same way that reached halfway up the lower arm. All members of _Anglerfish_ Team and _Messer-Ein_ also had on red swimwear to fit the theme.

The sports groups were having an intense game of beach ball using one of the large fake snowballs that were hung up on the palm trees. Both Noriko and Ron were scaling the trees and throwing the large fake snowballs into the play area from near the treetops. The freshmen were messing around doing childish things that were totally expected from them. The student council was lying in the sun.

"Well, there's no winter in the southern hemisphere," Anzu informed nonchalantly as she raised her sunglasses from her eyes. She was relaxing against Aprikose once again.

"We're probably somewhere around here," Zitrus informed as he held up a globe and pointed to a spot on it. They were east of the northernmost tip of Australia, in the westernmost areas of the Coral Sea. In the meantime, Pfirsich was also trying to follow the _Zuikaku's_ route on a map as he sipped on some lemonade.

"That's an advantage of living on a ship!" Aprikose informed with his typical laid-back attitude. "There's no need to stay in cold places."

"But there's not a fragment of romance!" Saori whined in response.

From nearby, David and Mako had stopped eating some cake and looked over to Saori with deadpans. They were wondering if she seriously just said what she just said, considering there indeed _was_ romance present. They were both in the same Christmas outfits as their other friends.

"Besides, it's not like you were kidding or anything when you tricked us into these Christmas costumes!" Saori continued lamenting. "Jeez…"

Anton was nearby as he listened to her rant of sorts, and he just rolled his eyes at her antics. The both of them also had some large sacks they carried for the moment, as did Herz and Hana nearby. Both Herz and Hana just looked on at Saori with smiles on their faces. They knew this was just Saori being Saori.

"Saori! Anton!" they both heard Ayumi and Mesut. They looked over to find all of the freshmen had lined up in front of them with excited looks.

"We were all good kids, so can you please give us some presents?!" Julius asked for all of them.

"Oh, my!" Saori reacted in pleasant surprise.

Anton laughed a bit merrily for a bit before he responded, "Of course! Line on up!"

From nearby, Nathan, Yukari, Miho, and Erich were watching the scene of Saori and Anton getting swarmed by the Christmas-spirited freshmen. The two upperclassmen were generously giving out presents within their sacks. Yukari and Nathan each had on the same Christmas outfits as Miho and Erich respectively.

"Looks like Miss Takebe and Anton are having their popular Christmas," Yukari noted.

"Though, it's not really the kind of popularity they wanted," Nathan also observed.

"What's inside?" Erik wondered as he got his stocking.

"Oh, it's a snack?" Christoph predicted as he felt his own stocking.

All of the freshmen then dug into their stockings to find them loaded with dried sweet potatoes. They simply looked on at the gifts with blank looks for a bit.

"Oh, yeah, that's what Anzu offered everyone," Erich observed with a smile as the freshmen started throwing the dried sweet potatoes at the student council. "I have to admit that I loved her gift."

"Yeah, but it seems like the student council is going to be the ones to eat them up," Miho observed.

"Hey! Stop it!" Pfirsich barked as many of the dried sweet potatoes hit him.

"We can talk about this!" Momo tried to reason with the freshmen, but it was in vain. Anzu just put a hand to her head and didn't even bother trying to fight a losing battle with the freshmen.

"Oh, _Bubi_ and Lady Nishizumi, did you guys ever do anything for Christmas back at your home?" Yukari asked with some intrigue.

"Yeah, we did, but it was usually modest," Erich informed with his signature calm smile. He and Miho also had their own gift sacks that they held as they were kneeled to the ground. Erich then looked up to the sky in thought. "But I wonder how things are over there this year for _Bruder…_ "

"Yeah, I wonder how _Schwester_ is doing now…" Miho similarly wondered as she leaned against him and also looked up to the sky with him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Far, far away on nearly the complete opposite side of the Earth, snow was prevalent in Weissach, Germany, the location of the Nishizumi residence.

Within the halls of the large manor, one student in the Schwarzwaldspitze school uniform was running through the halls as if on a mission. He was also one of the members of Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jägermeistern_ team. He flew the Ta 152.

Upon reaching one room, he sighed in relief. "I made it on time," he remarked with a relieved look.

He noticed in the room some of his comrades from the team already waiting at a table along with some girls from the _Panzerkraft_ team.

One of the other guys noticed him. This one was recognizable as the pilot for the Ho 229. "'Made it on time,' like hell you did!" he barked at the Ta 152 Pilot. "You're even later than she was!" he informed as he pointed over to the _Jagdpanther_ Commander that was looking a bit shameful of being late.

The Ta 152 Pilot looked on at the scene in confusion before it sunk in that everyone else there was also part of Schwarzwaldspitze's Arts of Warfare programs. He then started getting nervous at the implications.

"The reason we were called by _herr Staffelkapitän_ to come meet him at _fräulein Kapitän's_ home is…" another pilot mused. This one was the pilot for one of the Bf 109Fs.

"There's no mistaking it," another pilot began with a look of defeat. This one was one of the Fw 190D pilots. "… Both of them are going to scold us directly about the blunders we committed during the battle against Ooarai."

All of the members present then began reflecting on what they did wrong in the fight. The _Panzer_ III Commander remembered getting taken out effortlessly after getting too cocky without taking anyone down in return. The _Jagdpanther_ Commander recalled being tracked twice by the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t). The _Maus_ Commander remembered the annoying I-Go that refused to get off of her super heavy tank. The _Panther_ Commander recalled losing her nerve upon discovering the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) was beside her.

All of the pilots were also similarly recalling their blunders.

The Bf 109 Pilot recalled having been humiliated upon being taken out right after saying no one could take him on. ' _If only I could've taken someone out…_ ' he thought with a miffed look.

The Ta 152 Pilot had regrettably remembered getting his left wing blown off twice by the Fw 190 D-12. He remembered being angry enough to swing his fist at the offending _Dora._

The Ho 229 Pilot bitterly remembered being constantly harassed by the Ki-10 after getting part of his wing cut clean through by the Fw 190 D-12.

' _Weiß-Elf, Weiß-Fünfzehn, the enemy Dora's behind us!_ ' the Fw 190 Pilot recalled screaming over the radio in panic upon seeing the enemy Fw 190 D-12 approach from behind.

' _I don't think that's it, though…_ ' Koume Akaboshi thought as she looked on at everyone with a smile. She was also in attendance with her comrades, but she wasn't the same with regards to her attitude. She was far more calm and happy.

"More importantly," the Ho 229 Pilot began somewhat unnerved as he held up his phone. "I haven't stopped shivering in fear ever since I got his message to come here."

The message itself said, 'Those without any plans for Christmas, come to _fräulein Kapitän's_ place.'

All of those except for Koume imagined their summoning messages being sent by extremely angry versions of Maho and Alfred. Koume just laughed awkwardly seeing everyone's looks.

"Oh, I'm so scared… so scared…" the Fw 190 Pilot trembled in fear. He and the _Panther_ Commander held onto each other as they tried quelling their fears of their _Kommandeuren,_ but it was to no success as they continued shaking.

" _Ich möchte meine Mutter…_ " the Ta 152 Pilot despaired as he also shook in fear.

"It's over!" the Ho 229 Pilot despaired as he sank to his knees. "I'm a dead man!"

' _Well, considering neither of them say anything more than what's absolutely necessary,_ ' Koume thought as she looked on at her comrades shake in fear.

Soon, two more people came into the room. One of them was Erika in her school uniform, and the other was a special _herr Rentier._ In other words, it was Hans in a reindeer costume.

" _Au,_ you guys are all here already?" Erika wondered as she and Hans stepped into the room. "You're early, you know."

Both she and Hans looked on at the current state of affairs in the room. They noted everyone else being in their school uniforms. They soon came to a realization as they both started sweating nervously.

"Wait a minute…" Hans began. "This _isn't…_ a Christmas party?"

"Hans?!" everyone cried out in shock upon seeing Hans in his reindeer costume.

"This is a review meeting, no matter how you think about it!" the Fw 190 Pilot yelled with a nervous manner.

"We've now increased our blunder count by one!" the Ho 229 Pilot yelled in extreme dissatisfaction and terror.

"Gah, what do I do?! What do I do?!" Hans started freaking out.

"Did you forget why you're in Schwarzwaldspitze?!" the Bf 109 Pilot screamed at him with a fearful look.

"Ah!" the _Panzer_ III Commander managed to briefly cry out upon discovering two more people come into the room.

" _Frohe Weihnachten!_ " both Maho and Alfred proclaimed as they set off some fanfare in their hands. All of those in the room looked to the two German _Kommandeuren_ in shock and confusion.

Maho had on a similar Santa-like outfit as Miho had on all the way on the other side of the Earth, but opposite of Miho's, Maho's outfit included everything _but_ the portion that covered the shoulders. She also had similarly-styled sleeves that were not attached to the main dress-like upper garment. Similarly, her leggings left a bit of her upper legs visible for all to see. Rounding out the outfit was a Santa hat along with similar gloves.

Alfred had on a similar outfit, but his was far more fit for a guy. It consisted of a traditional Santa outfit in full, but he did not go all the way with it. He did not take up the white hair and beard, and he did not go for the Santa belly, either. The outfit was also lighter than would be considered normal, considering everyone was indoors and bundling up wasn't necessary.

For a short time, Maho and Alfred stared on at everyone in the room with blank looks as the others stared back while sweating. Both of the German _Kommandeuren_ then turned around and got some more fanfare out of a bag they brought.

As the others saw the larger amount of fanfare they both had, Hans chose to stop them. "W-We get it, guys," he said to them as he held his hands up in a fitting manner.

"Those getups…" the Ho 229 pilot muttered in wonder as the other Arts of Warfare members looked on in a stunned manner.

"With the _Frohe Weihnachten…_ " Hans also said while stunned.

"Wait, you mean this _isn't…_ a review meeting?" Erika asked with clear confusion still mixed with the earlier fear.

"A review meeting?" Alfred wondered as he and Maho stood before everyone. Both of them had notably less formal stances now than was considered usual for them. "What, you all want one?"

"N-No, that's not what she meant!" Hans denied while sweating in fear.

"Well, all I can say is that you all performed your duties as expected and followed both of our orders without fault," Maho began anyways. "So that being the case, _we're_ the ones who are liable for not achieving victory."

" _We_ should have been the ones protecting the marked man and flag tank," Alfred similarly stated. Both he and Maho then bowed their heads to the group. "Our sincerest apologies."

" _Nein, bitte herr Staffelkapitän, fräulein Kapitän!_ " Hans began as he held his hands out to try and stop the sight. "Please, don't lower your heads in shame!"

"We didn't mean to…" the Ta 152 Pilot similarly tried getting the two German _Kommandeuren_ to stop.

"Let's hold the party!" the Fw 190 Pilot suggested to bring them out of their mood.

"Yeah, the party!" the _Panther_ Commander agreed in a similar manner.

At their statements, both Maho and Alfred raised their heads in confusion as they looked to everyone start getting fanfare of their own. After watching them for a bit, both of the German _Kommandeuren_ chose to get fanfare, as well.

"Well then, once more…" Maho led off.

" _Frohe Weihnachten!_ " everyone cheered as they all set off their fanfare.

XXXXXXXXXX

A short bit later, everyone then sat upright at the table in the room. For a little while, no one said anything.

"So…" Alfred finally broke the awkward silence. He then looked over to Hans on his right. Maho was on his left. "What do we do now?"

" _Herr Staffelkapitän?!_ " Hans cried out in utter shock upon hearing such a statement from his superior.

"We already made some noise anyway," Maho began similarly. "And since taking care of these sorts of things was always left to Miho and _Bubi…_ "

"You mean you have no plan?!" Erika also cried in shock.

"Um…" Koume began as she raised her finger. "How about we start by having a toast with some drinks, and then have some cake?" she offered.

"Well… did anyone bring any drinks?" Alfred asked.

"Everyone brought some _Bier,_ " Koume revealed as everyone started pouring their own glasses of beer like the true Germans they were.

"Now then, who will lead the toast," Koume began. She then gestured to Maho. " _Fräulein Kapitän, bitte!_ " she invited Maho to lead with a smile.

"Um…" Maho began in a manner that at first seemed like her typical emotionless tone. But everyone could tell she was actually nervous a bit about leading off the toast. "Sorry, but I'm not really used to such things… Um…" She then turned to Alfred and had a quiet conversation with him. "Wasn't there something Miho or _Bubi_ would say to skillfully manage a scenario like this?"

Alfred then entered thought to find something like what Maho asked. He then lit up. "I know," he stated. He then raised his glass, and everyone else followed his example. " _Beifall zu Ooarai für den Gewinn der Turniere!_ "

' _Waaaaaas?! So it's a review meeting after all?!_ ' all of those in attendance minus Koume thought as they held nervous grins.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back on the other side of the Earth in the Coral Sea, the _Zuikaku_ continued steaming along amidst the bright sun.

" _Alles Gute zum Geburtstag,_ Hana, Herz, and Anzu!" Erich, Miho, and Aprikose wished as they all held cakes for Hana, Herz, and Anzu. The rest of Hana's and Herz's friends followed behind along with the student council.

"Oh, thank you, everyone!" Hana, Herz, and Anzu thanked with genuine smiles from the offering. Anzu also had on the same outfit additions as the rest of the Anglerfish Team girls. Her shoulders were covered with the same article and she wore the same gloves.

"I'm glad, even though we already celebrated mine the other day!" Hana added as the cakes were set ahead of the three on a table. Her birthday was previously celebrated on December 16th.

"Same here, even though mine's a week away," Herz agreed.

"I'm glad you all actually remembered," Anzu thanked the three cake bearers. "Even though mine's not for another week." Both Anzu and Herz actually shared a birthday with each other. They were both born on January 1st, exactly a year apart from each other.

The three then blew out the candles on their respective cakes.

"Thanks a lot, Aprikose," Anzu genuinely thanked her fellow council President again with a smile mixed with a bit of a blush.

"Hey, it's nothing that I wouldn't do anyways, _Anzulein,_ " Aprikose returned with a generous smile.

Anzu then offered him a slice of cake. "Still, thank you so much," she reinforced the notion with her smile.

Hana then lifted up a stack of five cakes. "I'm also glad I received this many cakes!" she said in clear happiness. Her large appetite was already thanking her. David and Mako were drooling a bit at the sight of all the cakes present now.

" _Passt scho, passt scho,_ " Aprikose dismissed with a wave.

Yuzu and Zitrus then came up with some more cakes in hand. Yuzu also had the same Christmas additions as Anzu now had. "We brought a lot of them since the pastry shop aboard couldn't sell them all," Yuzu informed.

"They don't last very long, so eat them while they're good!" Zitrus suggested.

"Wow, so they really _don't_ sell well when it's hot," Aprikose remarked as he ate his piece offered by Anzu. At the same time, Mako and David were trying to find any slices to eat for themselves and satisfy the sweet tooth both of them possessed.

"But that's an opposing effect!" Anton spoke up as he ate a slice. "That's why we need to go somewhere cold!"

"Guess we'll have to have a food fight after all this…" Anzu figured with a sigh.

"Absolutely not!" Lemu and Sodoko denied. Both of them also each helped themselves to one of the massive numbers of cake slices. Both also had on a Santa hat.

"Oh, come on!" Saori complained. She then took a bite of her slice. "The snow… the couples… the romance…"

"I'm really enjoying this, though!" Hana happily spoke up as she ate another slice of cake. "This is the first time I've had such a hot birthday!"

"Hey, Erich!" Aprikose spoke up as he waved a hand.

"Yes?" Erich replied as he turned over to him. He was over by Miho enjoying the moment.

"Did you and Miho send out _those_ things?"

" _Those_ things?" Miho wondered as she heard them.

"Oh, yeah we did!" Erich replied. "Along with the other things we both sent over."

"What are _those_ things?" Pfirsich asked as he and Momo looked on. Momo also had on the same Christmas additions that Yuzu and Anzu had on.

Upon receiving the affirmative, both Anzu and Aprikose chuckled mischievously.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile on the other side of the Earth in the Nishizumi household, Maho and Alfred were looking on at everyone there. Everyone was at varying degrees of tenseness.

"Because I came in late…" the Ta 152 Pilot breathed out as he felt the shame weigh down on him.

" _Verdammter Doppeldecker!_ " the Ho 229 Pilot quietly brooded as he simmered in greatly restrained anger.

"What's wrong with everyone?" Alfred asked Maho as both looked on at everyone. "For some reason, they're all feeling down…"

Maho lowered her head in thought for a bit. She then lit up with an idea in her typical impassive way as she raised her head back up. "There's some cake for us," she revealed. "Let's cut it."

Alfred nodded. "I'll get the cutting knife," he stated.

Maho looked over to Alfred with a raised eyebrow. She was curious as to why he immediately insisted on cutting the cakes.

In response, Alfred rolled his eyes. "Just trust me," he said to her as he left to get a cutting knife. Maho shook her head and returned to her normal look as she got the cakes she had received.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Maho set two cakes down on the table, and Alfred now had a cutting knife.

"All right, here we go," Alfred began as he raised his knife.

He then quickly sliced each cake into six perfect slices with an unparalleled amount of precision. It only took a few seconds to slice all of them up.

Everyone looked on at Alfred's handiwork stunned for a bit before they all started cheering, save for Maho who held her impassive looks. She politely clapped, though.

"Awesome cutting skills, _herr Staffelkapitän!_ " Hans praised as he ran up with his plate.

"Let's dig in, _herr Staffelkapitän! Fräulein Kapitän!_ " the _Panther_ Commander suggested as she also came up with her plate.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, everyone had finished their cake, and Maho had chosen to wheel in a karaoke set her family had.

"We also happen to have a karaoke set," she revealed as she wheeled it to a stop at the front of the room. "I'm not very well-acquainted with the most recent songs, so please put in all of your favorites."

And so everyone chose to put their favorites in. Erika chose to, ironically, put in _Erika (Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein)._ The other _Panzerkraft_ girls chose to put in _Panzerlied._ Hans chose to put in his favorite, _Ghost Division._ Alfred chose to insert his own favorite song, _Wehrmacht._

Maho looked on with a blank look as everyone else besides Alfred dug into their school's song book. Why they were looking through such books was because all of the songs put into the set were also theme songs for Schwarzwaldspitze High School.

Maho then turned to Alfred. "I know you love that song, but did you really have to join them?" she asked with her blank look.

Alfred looked to the screen in response. "… Oh, I see…" he finally responded verbally as he realized the common link between all of the songs everyone put in.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Maho and Alfred chose to put on a hidden talent contest, and they were doing imitations at the moment. Alfred currently had his hair hastily dyed blonde and made to be very tidy in appearance. He ironically looked a lot more like Erich right now. Maho had her hair in French braids as both held cups of tea.

"Do you know this saying?" Alfred began as he lowered his cup from his lips. "'To be a successful fighter pilot, one needs to have both a great weapon and luck.'"

Maho lowered her own tea as she replied, "Galland, wasn't it?"

Almost everyone clapped awkwardly at the display. Koume clapped more naturally, as she actually enjoyed the show.

"Maybe they're accepting it a little?" Alfred quietly remarked to Maho as the two of them looked on at everyone besides Koume huddle up.

"The _Staffelkapitän_ being awfully friendly is dreadful," the Ta 152 Pilot observed. "This is a first, and including the _Kapitän,_ too?"

"I wonder what kind of punishment awaits us…" the Bf 109 Pilot dreadfully mused.

"Um…" Koume entered the huddle with a raised finger. "Perhaps the _Kapitän_ and _Staffelkapitän_ just want to enjoy a normal party with the rest of us?"

"Koume?" Hans wondered in confusion. He, along with the others there, was unable to comprehend the idea of their _Kommandeuren_ being laid-back at all, even during such a time as Christmas.

Koume then chose to walk up to the two German _Kommandeuren._ Both Maho and Alfred had some gift sacks as well that they were now digging through. While the others were huddled up, both of them had returned their hair to normal.

" _Fräulein Kapitän_ and _herr Staffelkapitän,_ those costumes of yours look very nice!" she complimented. Maho and Alfred turned over to her in response. Neither of them expected such a compliment to be handed to them. "Where did you get them?"

"Oh, well Miho considered the situation and made the smart move of sending these to us," Maho revealed.

"I don't really know _why_ Erich sent this over, though," Alfred added with a shrug. "I can easily guess for Miho, though."

"Since mine and Miho's parents are busy a lot, we only had each other and the Hartmann brothers for celebrating Christmas," Maho continued on for Koume.

"Yeah, we only had each other," Alfred confirmed with a bit of a reminiscent tone. "Mine and Erich's parents are always busy with their school, so we were similarly lonely for Christmas. But we at least still had the Nishizumi sisters to keep us company and have some fun with."

"This year, I figured we could call our _Kameraden_ from _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ to see how it would work out with a crowd…" Maho continued. "But it appears to be difficult to stir them up…"

The others looked on at them as they all grew a realization.

"Wait, wait!" Hans finally spoke up as he waved his hands in front of him. "S-So you mean today _really_ is a Christmas party?" he asked in great confusion.

"Haven't we said that since the beginning?" Alfred asked in response.

"That's what that getup is for…" Maho muttered under her breath. She was referring to Hans' reindeer costume.

The two German _Kommandeuren_ then brought forth their gift sacks to the middle of the group.

"That's also why we'd enjoy it if you relaxed and accepted these," Alfred stated. "Looks like all of these are presents to be exchanged with all of us."

"We don't know what's inside, though," Maho stated.

"They go to such great lengths!" Koume awed with praise. "I'll have to express my gratitude to Miho and _Bubi!_ "

"So these gifts are meant to be exchanged, but…" Alfred continued. "… How do we decide how they're exchanged?"

"Uh…" everyone else besides the two German _Kommandeuren_ and Koume said as they tried to think.

XXXXXXXXXX

Clearly, the students of Schwarzwaldspitze are not used to the idea of messing around and having fun. They finally managed to devise a way to exchange gifts.

"I believe it goes something like this…" Maho began as they formed a large circle.

After that, everyone passed the gifts around the circle while singing _Jingle Bells_. It was awkward how the exchange went, as everyone besides Maho and Alfred held awkward looks while they clumsily sang the classic Christmas song.

" _Halt,_ " Alfred finally ordered after some time, and everyone stopped passing the gifts around.

"So this one is mine…" the Ta 152 Pilot observed as he held his gift. "Time to open it!"

He then excitedly tore into his gift, only to stop upon seeing what it was. It was a die-cast model of a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-12.

The pilot was currently imagining Aprikose giving him a sly thumbs-up signal. He then imagined slamming the box down over the Bavarian's head in great anger.

Of course, he was just imagining things, and he soon came back to the real world to see Alfred looking over toward him.

"I-I'l assemble it with great care!" he promised nervously as he held the box. "Since it's a gift from _Bubi…_ "

Alfred smiled satisfactorily in response, but he had no idea what the Ta 152 Pilot was thinking prior.

' _Poor bastard,_ ' the Ho 229 Pilot thought as he looked on at him. He then tore into his own gift. "Looks like mine is…" he trailed off upon seeing his gift. It was a die-cast model of a Kawasaki Ki-10-II.

A vein popped in the Ho 229 Pilot's forehead as he started imagining what he would do if he could see the Ki-10's pilot at that moment.

" _Hello!_ " he heard Ron, the pilot for the biplane, greet as he literally popped into existence ahead of him in his Ki-10.

In response, the Ho 229 Pilot tried to slam the box against the side of the plane's cockpit to try and break apart the plane itself.

" _Ah!_ " Ron reacted in response as he tried backing away on instinct.

"Ho 229… sorry…" the Bf 109 Pilot regrettably said as he held his gift. His gift was a die-cast model of the sole Horten Ho 229 V3. "If I had stuck with it… Then it wouldn't have…"

"Why is there a second _Dora?!_ " the Fw 190 Pilot angrily yelled out as he held his gift. His gift was a die-cast model of a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-12. He had also instinctively turned around to look behind him. "That's all kinds of fuckery!"

Hans had opened up his gift as well, which was a die-cast model of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4. ' _Ugh, you're killing me with this stuff right now, Bubi…_ ' he thought, but he held no hostile reaction to his gift.

As for the girls' gifts, Koume had received a die-cast _Panzer_ IV H, the _Jagdpanther_ Commander received a die-cast _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t), the _Maus_ Commander received a die-cast I-Go otsu, the _Panther_ Commander also received a die-cast _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t), and lastly, the _Panzer_ III Commander received a die-cast _Maus._

All of the other members besides Alfred, Maho, and Erika lined up with their gifts in hand and simultaneously proclaimed, "We'll treat it with great care!" Koume and Hans were the only ones who weren't looking highly frustrated or crying from the torture.

"I'm glad to hear that," Alfred responded with a satisfied grin.

"They're so happy that they're crying," Maho remarked quietly.

"Jeez, what's with all those gifts?" Erika wondered as she opened her own gift. "Don't tell me this is a trap from Ooarai…" She then opened up her gift and found it as one of the anglerfish costumes that Ooarai's girls were well known for wearing with their Anglerfish dance. "… _Was zum Teufel ist das?_ "

She then looked back and found Maho looking at her. She then grew alarmed and tried to not offend her _Kapitän._ So Erika chose to put on the outfit.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later, Erika was fully in the costume.

"She's wearing it…" Koume observed with an awkward smile.

"W-What kind of presents did the _Kapitän_ and _Staffelkapitän_ get?" Erika wondered with some embarrassment from her outfit.

"Well, let's open mine up and see," Maho determined as she picked up a large sack.

"Man, that's huge!" Hans noted with some surprise.

Maho then reached down into the bag and felt what was inside. "Hm?" she wondered. "It has a particular feeling to it…"

"Let me do it instead!" Erika insisted as she tried rushing forth.

"Are you okay?!" the _Maus_ Commander asked Maho in a panic.

"Is it alive?!" the _Jagdpanther_ Commander asked amidst her own panic.

"If it's dangerous, then running away is the…" Hans spoke up, but Maho had already pulled out her present entirely for all to see.

Her gift was a toy Araippe, unique as being distinctly from Ooarai. All of the others besides Alfred looked on in complete loss as to what Maho had received.

"J-Just what is that creature?" the _Jagdpanther_ Commander asked fearfully.

" _Ein Untier?_ " Erika guessed.

"Wait, monster?" Hans wondered as he also looked on at the Arraipe.

" _So niedlich,_ " Maho remarked with a small smile of satisfaction.

" _Was?!_ " many of the others reacted in surprise.

"Okay, okay, I think we've had enough freaking out for today!" Hans declared as he crossed his hands in front of him. "Can we just see what _herr Staffelkapitän_ got and end the torture?"

"Oh, that's right," Maho spoke up as she looked over to Alfred. "You didn't open your gift yet."

Alfred raised an eyebrow at her. "… Alright, if everyone wants to find out so badly," he finally acquiesced.

He then reached over for another large sack. "I wonder what Erich got me this time…" he wondered aloud as he reached his hand inside.

"It better not be another of his _Scheiß-Streiche,_ " Hans muttered to himself as he and everyone else looked on.

Alfred then pulled out a potato from the sack. He reached back in and pulled out another. He then grabbed some more from the sack before he dropped them all back in and gave everyone a great view of the sack's contents.

"Agh! _Was für ein Kind!_ " Hans exploded upon seeing so many potatoes in there. "I've had enough of seeing _gottverdammte Kartoffeln!_ "

"Mmm…" Alfred said in delight as he looked at all of the potatoes with a satisfied grin. He also held a procedure from inside the bag for letting the potatoes ferment to use later with making whiskey. "He knows my tastes just right."

Hans stopped his tirade in surprise as he saw that his _Staffelkapitän_ actually _liked_ the gift. He then clenched his teeth as he muttered, " _Au, fick dich, Bubi…_ "

XXXXXXXXXX

As the snow continued to fall around the place, all of the Germans there minus Koume, Maho, and Alfred were looking either embarrassed or mad. Koume, Maho, and Alfred were in high spirits, and Maho was fiddling with her phone for the moment as everyone held their gifts. Alfred was devouring some of his potatoes just like his younger brother would while he set aside some for fermenting later. It shows that they really are brothers.

XXXXXXXXXX

Over on the _HMS Ark Royal,_ Christmas was also being celebrated amongst the British. Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, and Assam were enjoying the moment with Arthur, Dennis, and Douglas as they all had some tea and cake.

"Speaking of Christmas, do you know this saying?" both Darjeeling and Arthur began as they raised fingers.

"There's this Christmas joke…" Assam and Douglas both began. During that time, Orange Pekoe and Douglas chose to tune the others out and just enjoy the day.

XXXXXXXXXX

Aboard the _USS George Washington,_ the Americans were celebrating Christmas with their typical amounts of excess. Kay and Chuck were leading the charge to delivering presents to every single person using a sleigh. Both had on Christmas outfits, but Kay's was unique in its style. It had a short skirt that barely covered her up along with a bra that was strapless. She topped it off with a Santa hat, some gloves, and some boots. Chuck had on a Santa outfit much like Alfred's.

Upon stopping at their current destination, they ended up plowing Alisa and Ray into some cakes that were on a table nearby face first. On another sleigh that came to a stop beside them, Christian was busy playing the role of a ladies man within his reindeer costume as some girls flocked to him. On yet another sleigh that came to a stop behind, Naomi was dancing in a suggestive manner atop it in a similar outfit as Kay's. She was doing it as a bit of a gift of her own for all of the guys aboard.

XXXXXXXXXX

Over on the _Kiev,_ the Russians were also celebrating Christmas. Much of the gift giving was with the various gifts Nonna, Nudelmann, and Sasha had all gathered to give Katyusha. Katyusha herself was in a Christmas outfit sized to fit her small size, which combined both Maho's and Miho's outfits. That is, she had the shoulder section that Maho's outfit lacked.

Sasha also had a Santa outfit on like the one Alfred had worn. He was currently giving Katyusha a great hug from a present he had gotten from her. It was a set of blank blueprints. Katyusha was blushing from the hug out of surprise, as she did not expect what she saw as a halfhearted gift to be accepted so well. All the while, Nudelmann and Nonna looked on at them with their calm smiles.

XXXXXXXXXX

Christmas was also being celebrated by the Italians aboard the _Aquila._ While they did not have the money to buy any gifts for each other, Franco, Anchovy, Carpaccio, Pepperoni, Furio, and Fernando each greatly felt the sense of friendship from Christmas anyways as they all stood outside and watched the snow fall around them.

XXXXXXXXXX

Aboard the _Zuikaku,_ all of Erich's and Miho's friends had gotten to the phase of opening presents under the tree. The rest besides Erich and Miho had opened theirs, and everyone was currently eating some more of the many, many cakes they had gotten.

Miho lit up upon hearing her phone go off, and she quickly swallowed before she pulled her phone out.

"You got a text?" Erich asked her. Both were beside each other by the tree.

"Yeah!" she replied with a smile as she looked at her phone. "It's from _Schwester!_ There's even a picture, even though she's not so good at these things…"

The message itself read, 'Thanks really happy please wait expectingly for return gift.' The picture was one that included all of the members that had shown up to the German Christmas party.

The _Panther_ Commander, _Panzer_ III Commander, _Maus_ Commander, _Jagdpanther_ Commander, Fw 190 Pilot, Bf 109 Pilot, Ho 229 Pilot, and Ta 152 Pilot were all kneeled on the ground with their gifts in hand as they held dark looks. Standing behind them were Erika, Hans, and Koume. Erika looked at the camera with as much of a stern face as she could while wearing her anglerfish costume. In his reindeer costume, Hans was still boiling in anger as he held his gift, but he restrained himself for the photo. Koume gave off an awkward wave as she held her gift. Maho and Alfred were at the very front of the photo with their typical impassive looks. Maho had her Arraipe while Alfred had a few of his gifted potatoes in hand.

Miho looked at the photo with a bit of a blanked-out look while Erich started chuckling. "Oh, man, that's fantastic," he remarked upon seeing the photo. "It looks like I got Hans with that one!" He then looked to Miho. "But it looks like they had plenty of fun, don't you think?"

Miho snapped out of it upon hearing her lover speak to her. "Oh, yeah!" she said with an awkward smile.

"But anyway, there are still more gifts to be exchanged, you know," Erich reminded her. Neither of them had yet given gifts to each other.

"Oh, right…" Miho began as she grew shy again. She then grabbed her gift to give from the tree nearby and hesitantly gave it to him while blushing up a storm on her face.

"Man, and I thought you got over that phase," Erich remarked with no harm intended upon seeing her. He then opened her gift, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise upon seeing what it was.

Miho's gift to him was a digital picture frame loaded with a photo album that showed practically their entire lives together in pictures. It was even more special considering some of those pictures could no longer be found as physical photographs.

He remained silent for a bit as he scrolled through the album and took it in. Upon not hearing him respond, Miho sighed in defeat.

"I'm sorry, _Bubi._ I know it's not a great gift, but it was the best I could think of," Miho apologized while looking discouraged.

She then felt herself getting hugged greatly, and she grew surprised at the contact.

"This is fantastic, _Miholein,_ " Erich told her as he held her close. His eyes were closed as he had a great smile. "I couldn't possibly ask for a better present."

Upon hearing his praise and being assured, Miho smiled once again and returned the hug. "Oh, thanks, _Bubi,_ " she responded with her kindness. " _Frohe Weihnachten._ "

Soon, they released each other, and Erich moved to hand over his gift for her. "And now, I give you this," he said with a calm smile as he handed the gift over. " _Frohe Weihnachten._ "

Miho took it and tore into it. She found it as being a box, so she then opened the box, and she gasped and widened her eyes in great surprise upon discovering what was inside.

Erich's gift to her was an extremely rare _Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern, und Brillanten,_ but this one appeared a bit different. She could tell that the center emblem had been changed a number of times during its existence, from the original and now forbidden _Hakenkreuz_ to other emblems over time. Judging by the papers in the box, this Knight's Cross was a genuine one, one of only twenty-seven of its ilk to ever be awarded. The papers also revealed it had quite the history. The emblem in the center was currently that of an anglerfish, specifically the one on Miho's _Panzer_ IV H.

Miho then looked up at Erich. "… How…?" was all she could say. She was very much speechless at the extremely rare gift.

"My family likes to hand down my great-grandfather's _Ritterkreuz_ to new generations," Erich revealed with his typical calm look. "It's one of the most valuable and symbolic things we own, so we want to keep it in existence as long as our family lives."

"Wait, you mean this is _his?_ " Miho asked as she held up the box in emphasis.

Erich nodded. "Yup," he verbally confirmed as well. "It was handed down to me just before we started out at Schwarzwaldspitze. And the reason I gave it to you…" he began. He then moved to sit beside her and wrap an arm around her. "… Is because I get the feeling that you'll also wield the Hartmann name soon enough," he quietly told her.

Miho blushed at the implication, but she didn't offer any counter as she looked down at the rare Knight's Cross that now belonged to her. "… Am I really this important to you?" she shyly asked.

"Miho, it would be impossible for me to try and determine exactly how important you are to me," Erich told her. "The simplest way I can say it is that _you_ are my reason for existing. I do not even want to imagine how my life would be without you, because I know it would not be anywhere near as great as it is with you right now."

Miho looked over to him as she stared into his blue eyes with her same deep blush. Erich could already sense in his mind what was to come, but he chose to play natural and lean his head forward as Miho did the same. They then closed their eyes and made contact with each other's lips as they started a slow, gentle kiss.

Farther away, all of their friends were watching with smiles. Saori was crying at the sight, but she tried remaining presentable by wiping her face with a cloth.

"Good God, you've already seen this before, so why are you crying?" Mako said in her typical deadpan tone. Saori pushed her in response, but Mako took the push as she grinned in satisfaction.

Finally, Erich and Miho broke apart. "Thank you," Miho told him in an extremely sincere manner. She also had tears in her eyes to emphasize how touched she was. "For everything."

"It's my pleasure seeing you so happy," Erich replied with a smile. "I love seeing you smile, and I'll do anything to see that brightly shining smile."

He then reached over to the box with the Knight's Cross and took the cross itself. He then prepared to put it around Miho's neck, but he stopped before he could. "May I?" he asked for her permission.

Miho nodded, and so Erich then donned what was now _her Ritterkreuz_ over her head and around her neck. It may have been extremely rare and worth a fortune, but Miho did not care. She would have been damned if she didn't proudly wear something her lover had chosen to gift her. Even though he knew just how valuable it was, Erich had chosen to gift it to her anyway. As Erich removed his arms from her, he leaned back to behold her new appearance.

"It looks fantastic on you," he complimented after taking her appearance in.

Miho shyly giggled a bit as she continued to blush out of embarrassment. "Thanks…" she replied with her shy tone as she looked down at the _Ritterkreuz_ around her neck.

Erich then looked around the room for a bit before he nonchalantly commented, "You know, it just hit me, but I wonder how Dziubek and Alice are doing."

Miho looked to him in surprise, but she then grew a longing look upon hearing the names of two of their best friends. "Oh, right… Alice and Dziubek…" she said with a similar longing voice. "… I wonder how they're doing now…"

Erich looked over to her upon sensing her getting a bit sad, and he prepared a response for her.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I'm sure they're doing just fine, _Alśka,_ " Dziubek Skalski answered Alice Shimada's concerns over Miho and Erich.

The both of them were also celebrating Christmas at one of Selection University's many campuses spread out around the world. They were in their dorm room by themselves at the British campus, where the falling snow was plentiful. Dziubek himself was in a Santa outfit much like the one Alfred had worn, but it was sized to fit his smaller stature.

Alice sighed at his response. "I know, but it's just… I really miss Miho and Erich…" she spoke up with a longing tone as both of them sat on the only large bed within.

"You're not alone," Dziubek replied understandingly. "I miss them, too. But I'm sure they feel the same way. We _are_ friends with them, you know."

Alice hesitated to reply, but she finally sighed as she nodded in acceptance. "I guess you're right…" she acquiesced. She paused a bit before she spoke up again. "By the way, do you happen to know where the Bermuda Trio went?"

Dziubek looked up as he entered thought. Shortly after, he answered, "I remember hearing something about them going off to a bar with the Three Spearheads…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Over at one of the bars off-campus, or a pub as the locals liked to call them, Azumi, Megumi, and Rumi were all heavily drunk along with the Three Spearheads, also known as Georges, Jack, and Nils. All wore Christmas outfits. The girls had on the same full outfits that Katyusha also wore. The guys had full Santa outfits like Alfred's. All of their outfits were full in the sense that they were fit for cold weather with their thicker liners.

" _And we'll all drink stone wine when Johnny comes marching hoooooooome!_ " all six of them sang together while absolutely hammered. They were all supporting each other as they stood up as best they could. They all then laughed with each other after finishing the song.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Yeah, I kind of figured Nils and Rumi would go off to get hammered," Dziubek voiced his thoughts in his and Alice's room. "I mean, they _are_ Finnish, and that sounds like something they would do. For Azumi and Georges, I'm not too sure. I don't know a whole lot about how the French drink. And I wonder why Megumi and Jack are with them, considering they're not legally allowed to drink under America's laws, last I heard."

Alice laughed awkwardly upon hearing where the six of their lieutenants were. Dziubek then looked over to her.

"Oh, I'm not sure if I said it already, but I like your outfit," he complimented with a calm smile.

Alice blushed and looked away as she embarrassingly smiled at the compliment. She was currently wearing the same Christmas outfit that Katyusha was wearing, in the same small size. She looked like a cute, festive little girl in her outfit. " _Dziękuję Ci bardzo,_ " she shyly replied.

Dziubek silently chuckled seeing her so adorably shy again. "Anyway," he began. "We still haven't exchanged gifts with each other, you know."

Alice looked up to him in surprise. She had forgotten they were going to exchange gifts as well. "O-Oh, right!" she stuttered out as she rushed around the room to find the gift she had gotten Dziubek.

As he got up to his feet, Dziubek looked on at her in amusement for a bit until Alice finally brought up her gift for him. At that same time, though, Dziubek already had his gift for her offered forth.

"Did you really forget, _Alśka?_ " Dziubek asked with amusement in his voice.

Alice looked away again as she grew an embarrassed blush.

Dziubek chuckled at her appearance. "But here you go, _Alśka,_ " he said as he offered his gift to her.

Alice took it as her embarrassment wore away. She opened it, and she gasped in surprise of it.

Dziubek's gift to her was a very unique Boko doll. This one had the armor and distinctive wings of the famous Polish Hussars that throughout the 17th century decisively conquered their foes while often greatly outnumbered themselves.

Alice finally looked up at Dziubek with wide eyes. "How did you get this?" she asked him. She did so in a way that suggested she was nearly speechless. "I haven't ever seen one like this…"

"I actually made it myself," Dziubek admitted with a bit of a bashful look as he held the back of his head with one hand. "I know you love Boko a lot, so I wanted to try and find one of the dolls that you didn't have yet. But it was pretty hard considering you already have so many, and the few you _didn't_ have were either way too expensive for me to get with my own money, or were so rare that they were impossible to find."

"So I decided to try and make one myself. It started out as one of the normal dolls, and I modified its appearance to, well… _that,_ " he said as he gestured to Alice's new Boko doll. "I noticed that they hadn't made a Hussar model, so I figured why not make it myself?"

He immediately felt Alice launch herself at him in a massive hug that nearly toppled him over.

" _Dziękuję Ci bardzo,_ Dziubek!" she enthusiastically thanked him while she gave him her massive hug. "I love it!"

Dziubek looked a bit embarrassed at getting hugged so passionately by her, but he returned it anyway. "It's no problem, _Alśka,_ " he humbly responded as he held her close. " _Wesołych Świąt._ "

Alice finally broke away after some time and offered forth her gift. "And here's mine, Dziubek," she offered with a bright smile.

Dziubek took it gently and unwrapped it. The gift was in another small box, and he opened that as well. He then raised his eyebrows as he looked on at his gift in surprise.

Alice's gift to him was two tickets to the next upcoming Sabaton cruise. The specific event picked out was their scheduled performance at Woodstock Festival Poland in Kostrzyn nad Odrą. Dziubek also noticed that the tickets were those for spots at the very front by the stage.

Dziubek looked over to Alice in surprise. "But… These aren't even on sale yet," he said in disbelief at her gift.

"Well… I decided to call in a few favors from some people and got the chance to get these early," Alice shyly revealed as she looked down while twirling one of her pigtails with her finger.

"But why did you get two?" Dziubek asked her as he held up the two tickets in emphasis.

"I know you love Sabaton a lot, and seeing you so excited about it…" She grew a blush as she hesitated a bit out of shyness. "… I wanted to come with you to experience it, too." She then looked up at him with just her eyes as she held her head down in her shy demeanor. "Is that okay?"

Dziubek stepped forth and wrapped her in a great hug that caught Alice off-guard. "Of course it's okay!" he granted without any doubt in his voice. "I'd be honored to have you come along with me!"

Alice had grown surprised from the sudden hug, but she then grew relaxed as she let herself be wrapped in his arms. "Thank you," she said to him with a smile. " _Wesołych Świąt._ "

Soon, the both of them drew their heads back so they could look at each other. They ended up looking directly into each other's eyes. Dziubek stared into Alice's light brown eyes and Alice stared into Dziubek's hazel eyes as they both grew silent and locked gazes with each other.

Alice had grown a blush from embarrassment of her current situation, but in spite of that, she did not back down from it. The Polish tank prodigy then decided to do something brave of her, and she started slowly leaning her head towards Dziubek's. The Polish fighter ace had grown a blush as he saw Alice lean her head to his own, but he did not back away at all. In fact, he met her halfway as he unconsciously leaned his head closer to hers.

As they closed their eyes, the both of them then contacted the other's lips and shared a long, gentle first kiss. It seems that they had both gotten another Christmas gift from each other as they continued on. Eventually, Alice had entangled her hands in Dziubek's short gray hair as she started kissing more fervently. Dziubek let her continue on as he held her by the waist.

The two longtime friends soon broke their kiss while they continued holding onto each other. Their faces each had heavy blushes on them as they once again looked each other in the eye. They were recovering their breath for a bit after sharing their first kiss.

" _Kocham Cię,_ Dziubek," Alice finally breathed out softly as the two held their gazes with each other.

" _Ja też cię kocham, Alśka,_ " Dziubek also breathed out in reciprocation with their faces only centimeters apart.

Alice then grew a hopeful look at his words. "Does this mean that… you'll be my boyfriend?" she asked.

"Only if _you_ want to be my girlfriend," Dziubek countered with a grin.

" _Tak!_ " Alice gladly accepted with an excited and elated smile. She chose to celebrate by giving Dziubek another kiss. This one was also fervent on her end like the first one as she messed with what was now her boyfriend's hair using her hands. Dziubek had no choice but to be similarly passionate with what was now his girlfriend as he held her by the waist and returned her kiss.

XXXXXXXXXX

Overall, everyone within the Arts of Warfare programs around the world was having a large amount of fun, and there was also plenty of romance being had during yet another very merry Christmas!

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	46. Kapitel 10,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zehn: Es ist der Mordfall des Ooarai Fw 190 D-12 Dora Bodenpersonal Manager!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _(Aprikose: Behold the horrifying condition Pfirsich is in…)_

Pfirsich was lying on the ground in a lifeless way with his eyes open and a great number of easily visible wounds to his head. His thin glasses were also shattered entirely as the frames laid separate elsewhere. His school uniform was ripped and torn in various areas near the top, and he also held a strip of jerky and a jump rope in his hands.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Yuzu screamed in utter fear as she looked at the motionless body of Pfirsich lying face-up on the hangar floor.

 _(Anzu: Yuzu Koyama's piercing scream echoed throughout the hangars…)_

Later on, both Anzu and Aprikose approached the hangar entrance in old-time detective outfits much like what was worn by Sherlock Holmes. Anzu had a button-up coat and skirt in the same style while Aprikose had a button-up coat and pants. Both had the distinctive hats. Instead of pipes, they both had their favored snacks in hand in the same manner. Anzu had a dried sweet potato while Aprikose had a strip of jerky. Both of them held very thoughtful looks as they approached.

"So this moment finally brings itself forth…" Aprikose mused while chewing another strip of jerky as the two of them approached. Beside the hangar doors was a poster displaying Pfirsich and offering a reward for anyone with any information on his state.

 _(Aprikose: That was the toll of the bell that announced the apocalypse for our everyday lives…)_

"Guys!" Erich called out to them both upon spotting them enter the hangars. He and many others were around Pfirsich's body. All of the others were in their usual school outfits excluding the two Presidents in their old detective outfits.

" _Herr und fräulein!_ " Wolf spoke up as he spotted Aprikose and Anzu. "What's happening?!"

"We came rushing here after we heard Yuzu scream-" Erich informed.

"Open your eyes!" Yuzu interrupted as she tried reaching out for Pfirsich. She had tears streaming from her eyes all the while. Momo and Zitrus were able to hold her back, though. "Pfirsich! Pfirsiiiiich!"

"And we found Pfirsich like this!" Miho ended. She was slightly different in her appearance now. Along with her school uniform, she was also wearing the unique _Ritterkreuz_ she had received as a gift from Erich around her neck.

"He's just unconscious, though, thank God…" Erich informed as he felt Pfirsich's neck for a pulse. "He's got a pulse still."

"That's enough with touching him!" Aprikose declared, and Erich and everyone else quickly backed away from the body in response. "Our highest priority now is to preserve the crime scene!" The two Ooarai Presidents were bringing everyone under control as they shooed everyone away from Pfirsich's body.

"This… Is a closed room murder!" Anzu dramatically proclaimed.

"I hate to break it to you…" Erich began with a deadpan. "But he's still alive, and the hangar doors are always open…"

"Closed room…" Nathan comprehended. He then lit up. "Wait! So you mean one of us is the culprit?!"

"No way…" Herz remarked. "How horrible!"

"I swear it wasn't me!" Anton immediately denied.

"Um…" Miho tried as she raised a hand nervously, but she couldn't find a way to rein everyone in from their more hysterical attitudes.

"Take a good look at Pfirsich's corpse," Anzu spoke up as she gestured to Pfirsich's body. " _That_ is a dying message!"

"Pfirsich…" Aprikose began nostalgically as he looked up in remembrance of his professional demeanor. "You were the one who drew the grudges of numerous students, so I thought that a day like today might one day come. But just you wait, Pfirsich… We'll find the culprit and avenge you!"

Each of the cliques that made up the Arts of Warfare programs had different reactions to their Presidents' attitudes. Miho was looking on in awkwardness while Erich stood beside her with a deadpan. All of the other members of _Anglerfish_ Team and _Messer-Ein_ looked a bit unnerved by the possible coming events except for the two that weren't there, Mako and David. Where they were at was unknown.

The history buffs all looked on with determined gazes at what was to come as they prepared for the worst. All of the gamers looked nervous about what was about to begin. Lemu and Sodoko looked on with determined intrigue as the rest of their fellow Public Morals Committee members looked on with looks of obedience. The mechanically proficient groups had no particular reactions except for some determined looks from Hoshino and Brown.

The sports groups were split in their reactions. Akebi, Taeko, Harry, and Alex all had looks that betrayed their fears for the coming events. Noriko and Ron had highly determined expressions as they fully embraced what trials laid ahead. Shinobu and Seth were somewhere in the middle as they held determined looks, but not as great as those of Noriko and Ron. The freshmen all had varying degrees of nervous looks for the events to come.

"We swear as the leaders of Ooarai High School!" both Anzu and Aprikose began in declaration with fingers raised. "That the culprit is among us!"

The two Presidents then pulled out a piece of their favorite foods and held it up close to their mouths like a pipe. "We've already gotten some posters up to get everyone wary of the situation," Anzu informed.

"So our first order of business is to try and put this case into order!" Aprikose announced.

"Um, Mr. and Madam Presidents?" Harry began with a hand raised. "Just out of curiosity, what's a dying message?"

"Well, it's any information that links to the culprit that the victim can give with his last remaining strength," Anzu informed.

Aprikose walked over to Pfirsich. "It's the same case with Pfirsich," he noted as he started observing his body. "He also left a message for us. Look there, he's got something in his hands. In one is… a strip of jerky…" He then stood up and raised his hand to his chin. "Hmm…" he entered thought.

At the same time, everyone else besides Anzu was staring at Aprikose with implications that he was the culprit based on his love for jerky. Anzu noticed and grew an awkward look. She then chose to save everyone the trouble as she stuck a tag on Aprikose's head that said Culprit #1.

"So the first to discover him was Yuzu, right?" Anzu asked as she continued the investigation.

"Y-Yes!" Yuzu answered as she dried her tears. She then divulged the details. "Pfirsich went over to the hangars to pick up some documents, but he was taking too long to come back. I got curious and chose to try and find him."

"In such events like these, it's often the case that the first to discover the victim is in actuality the culprit," Wolf opined as he grew a smirk.

"No way!" Yuzu loudly retorted in denial. "You're saying _I_ did it?!"

"Um…" they all heard the ever-quiet Neville speak up as he raised his hand. "I did happen to see… that Yuzu and Pfirsich were having a dispute of sorts…"

"A dispute?" Leonidas wondered. "Please give details, Neville!"

"It's about something that happened yesterday…" Neville began as he shared his vision.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Jeez! That's so mean of you, Pfirsich!" Yuzu complained to Pfirsich as he read off a clipboard.

"Yeesh, get over it already," Pfirsich dismissed. "And it's a truth statement, you know."

"Oh, you're such a big meanie, Pfirsich!" Yuzu continued her complaining as she got up in his face.

"Hey!" Pfirsich retorted sharply as he tried to push her back away. "Stop it!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"I can't believe that such a tragic event would…" Neville trailed off as he started shaking in fear. "And such violent behavior to make things worse…"

"Well, you know, that was just those two flirting," Aprikose revealed with a blank look. "Just pay it no mind…"

"But now back to the basics of this investigation!" Anzu continued to get back on track. "First, we want to hear everyone's alibis on a per-clique basis. So what were the sports folks up to?"

"We were taking a break out back while our hearts were always badminton and volleyball and nothing less!" Ron answered as he held his racquet up. Noriko held up her volleyball as well.

"In other words, we all had some light practice," Seth translated as he raised his hand.

Anton, however, noticed a bruise on Taeko's right wrist. He then lit up as he thought of a possible explanation.

"Hey, I think I figured this one out!" he announced.

"Anton?!" Hana wondered in surprise upon suddenly hearing him speak up loudly.

"Look at that bruise on Taeko's wrist!" Anton pointed out.

"Eh?" Taeko replied in a bit of alarm as she grabbed her wrist with her other hand. "That's just from when I got hurt during practice earlier…"

"It's from that jump rope that Pfirsich had in hand!" Anton claimed as he held up the rope in question.

XXXXXXXXXX

In Anton's version of the events, it was Pfirsich using the rope to hold Taeko close to him. The rope was wrapped around her right wrist.

"I won't let you run away anymore, _mei_ Taeko…" he whispered into her ear as he held a charming grin.

"No, you mustn't…" Taeko tried to deny with a blush on her face, but she didn't sound convincing. "Pfirsich, you already have Yuzu!"

"You dirty womanizer!" both of them heard, and they turned to the voice in alarm. They found Yuzu looking around the corner with a very dark look.

"No, you're wrong, Yuzu!" Pfirsich tried to deny. "This isn't what it looks like!"

But he could not stop Yuzu from approaching with a look of insanity in her eyes as she brandished a pair of bowie knives.

XXXXXXXXXX

"It was a volatile love triangle!" Anton claimed with the utmost confidence.

"He was killed out of blind love!" Saori continued in a girlish manner that completely destroyed any concrete for Anton's claim. The blonde American grew a deadpan as he heard her. "It was all because of unrequited love! Therefore it was love! Haa…!"

"Could you please not exaggerate the event?" Aprikose requested with a blank look. "There wasn't any stabbing involved."

"Anyway, moving on, let's hear the history buffs' alibis," Anzu continued the investigation.

"We, too, just happened to be on a break," Wolf informed with confidence as he shifted his peaked cap.

"There's nothing for us to feel guilty about," Leonidas claimed.

"I contest that claim!" Lemu spoke up as he looked over to the history buffs. "I think that you all are to be considered prime suspects!"

"Oh, really now?" Erwin turned to him with her typical smirk.

"Yes," Sodoko confirmed as both the history buffs and Public Morals Committee faced each other in full. "Mr. Nikolaus kept a watchful eye on your behavior just like we do as the Public Morals Committee!"

"As for you," Lemu continued as he pointed at the history buffs. "He was your only natural enemy! So you had plenty of motive!"

"That's an interesting deduction you made there, Public Morals Committee," Wolf spoke up with a smirk that had a threatening touch to it. "Now I wonder if we should eliminate our _other_ natural enemies, as well?"

Herz was looking on at the scene before he lit up. "Oh! I think I may have figured it out!" he spoke up.

"Herz, are you for real?!" Anton asked in response.

"The culprit was both the history buffs _and_ the Public Morals Committee!" Herz claimed anyway. He then detailed what he thought was true.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _It all started from the fierce power struggle between the Public Morals Committee and the history buffs!_ "

In the past, Pfirsich was looking on at the eight history buffs fighting off the hordes of Public Morals Committee members under Lemu's and Sodoko's command using the weapons they had bought originally because of their love for history. For the guys, Wolf had himself a _Maschinengewehr_ 42, Leonidas had on some of the heavy Spartan armor plus a long lance, Abe had set up a Gatling gun, and Gustav had a Carolean sword as all of the history buffs held the committee members at bay while far outnumbered.

" _Pfirsich was unable to turn his back on such a bloody feud!_ "

"Hey, you all!" he barked out as he drew a jump rope and a strip of jerky to use as weapons. "If you absolutely _must_ fight, then do it after you take me down!"

" _With the weapons he found in the area and his resolution to face them…_ "

In response, everyone there halted their fight to all beat down Pfirsich, and Pfirsich could do nothing but accept it as he continued getting beaten by the massive numbers of people.

XXXXXXXXXX

"He was unable to stop them!" Herz ended his claim.

"But I don't see any traces of him getting done in by such a large number of people," Aprikose provided contradictory evidence with a blank look. "Also, there's no way he has the courage for that."

"Besides, if we were to subjugate Pfirsich…" Wolf began as he explained what each of the history guys would prefer to do.

XXXXXXXXXX

For Abe, he took a Deringer and shot Pfirsich in the back of the head while he was unaware. "Freedom!" he then proclaimed as Pfirsich immediately dropped unconscious.

XXXXXXXXXX

For Gustav, he had taken his Carolean sword and ended Pfirsich's life with it as he left him to bleed out on the ground. " _Libera et impera,_ " he said as he sheathed his sword. "Once more, to the shore, to war."

XXXXXXXXXX

For Wolf, he was in the air in a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 and shot down a distracted and unaware Pfirsich who was flying a North American P-51B. "Another one down," Wolf noted as he saw the _Mustang_ burn while falling from the sky. "That's kill number 162…"

XXXXXXXXXX

For Leonidas, he was in the heavy Spartan armor with a long lance while Pfirsich approached in lighter armor and lesser-ranged weapons distinctly Persian and from the early 400 BCs. Leonidas simply took his long lance and aimed it at the approaching Pfirsich. Pfirsich could not reach Leonidas with his lesser-ranged weapons and suffered a stab from the point of the extended lance.

XXXXXXXXXX

"This intention to slay is in magnificent fairness!" Saemonza proclaimed for all of the history buffs.

" _Hurra!_ " all of them then shouted out together.

"Well, we have laws nowadays, so please be mindful of your actions," Aprikose informed with a blank look.

"But anyway," Wolf continued on as he turned over to the gamers. "Regarding the gamers, didn't you all often get scolded by Pfirsich about your appearances? That sounds like a motive!"

"That's pretty accurate…" Neville quietly confirmed as yet another possible series of events exposed itself.

XXXXXXXXXX

"How often do I have to say it before it's drilled into your heads?!" Pfirsich barked out at the gamers kneeled before him in the new series of events. "Why do you all never take your appearances seriously?! Are you just all happy-go-lucky all year round?!"

Suddenly and without warning, all of the gamers launched themselves at Pfirsich with intent to attack. Pfirsich grew a bit alarmed at the sight. But none of the gamers had dealt any threatening blows to him because of how weak they were, and Pfirsich eventually grew confusion at the events.

XXXXXXXXXX

"But with us, a critical hit would be impossible no matter how much we could attack," Nevi ended.

"You all should do some training," Aprikose suggested with a blank look. "So you can stay alive."

Soon, Herz started sniffing the air around. "Oh? What's this?" he wondered.

"What's up, Herz?" both Anton and Saori asked him.

"I can smell the scent of an animal from Pfirsich…" he spoke as he approached Pfirsich's body. He started to sniff it more closely. "The smell reminds me of a cat."

"Oh, I forgot about that!" Anton realized with a start. "Your extremely sensitive senses!"

All of the freshmen suddenly rushed up in a desperate attempt to cover up Herz's nose. "Huh?" Herz wondered as his nose was suddenly pinched shut.

"Th-Th-Th-That's _my_ scent!" Karina stuttered her claim that was meant to be sure, but it no longer sounded as such.

"What?" Herz wondered in confusion as he raised an eyebrow. In response, Karina moved to jump onto him and cover up his whole face with her body. "But your scent smells great as usual, Karina," Herz spoke up with his face covered up.

"That's not true!" Karina denied in desperation. "I've smelled like a cat since forever!"

Azusa and Matthias soon noticed many of the others start gathering together before them, and the freshmen all froze upon seeing them amass. The only ones unaffected were Saki and Bastian who continued staring off like they usually did.

"So you finally showed your tails, freshmen!" Wolf determined with a confident smirk as he traced the front of his peaked cap with his hand.

"What are you all trying to hide?!" Alex demanded with an intimidating factor to his appearance.

"W-We…" Azusa stuttered out and trailed off as she froze up.

"Nothing…" Matthias unconvincingly answered as he also froze. "We haven't done anything wrong…"

Soon, though, the freshmen all gave up, and four out of the six girls started to cry in defeat. Azusa just hung her head in defeat along with all but one of the guys. Saki and Bastian were the exceptions as they continued staring off into who knows what. Anton and Saori both grew some panic upon seeing the freshmen in their current state and moved to help them.

In the meanwhile, Anzu and Aprikose were watching. "Hmm…" they thought as they looked on while they started growing grins. They could feel they were getting close to cracking this case.

Finally, they lit up. "We know who the culprit of this incident is!" they proclaimed with a finger raised. Each of their hands also had other objects in them. For Anzu, she had a bag of dried sweet potatoes in one hand and another single dried sweet potato in the other. Aprikose was the same way, except with jerky and a bag of jerky.

"Are you serious right now?!" Wolf replied to them as everyone turned to the two Ooarai Presidents.

"P-Please believe us, we really haven't done any wrong!" Matthias tried to tell everyone, but he wasn't very convincing with all of the defeated freshmen around him.

"Yeah!" both Anton and Saori agreed as they jumped to the freshmen's defense.

"Even though the freshmen definitely seem suspicious, there's no possible motive for them, not to mention they don't even have the means to carry any plan out!" Anton claimed.

"Yeah!" Saori quickly agreed. "I think it's bad to just label them!"

"Anton, Saori!" all of the freshmen said while wearing extremely grateful looks seeing the two stand up for them.

"I know that the freshmen are hiding something, but they are not the culprits," Aprikose determined. He and Anzu were both staring off at a particular direction with their confident grins. "The actual culprit is…" Aprikose began as he raised a finger to point the culprit out. Everyone cleared out of the finger's way to find it pointing over to an approaching David and Mako further back.

"What's with all the noise?" David sleepily asked. He also had a wildcat beside him for some reason. It also appeared to be quite tame for some reason.

"David?!" Anton exclaimed in shock.

"Is it too much to ask for a proper rest during break?" Mako asked in a similar sleepy manner.

"How could you do that to Pfirsich, David?!" Anton asked as he rushed forth to David.

"What are you even talking about?" David replied with a deadpan.

"No, no," Anzu denied with an awkward smile. "But freshmen. That's right, is it not?" she asked all of the freshmen that were looking somewhat resigned to the events. "The culprit is this cat!" Anzu declared as she pointed to the wildcat by David's side.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!" everyone reacted in shock.

"A cat did that to Pfirsich?" Miho wondered aloud as she imagined the wildcat hitting Pfirsich with a knockout punch. She specifically pictured them wearing boxing gloves during said event.

"Well, it _is_ a wildcat," Erich granted. "They're called _wild-_ cats for a reason."

"Speaking of that, what's with the wildcat anyhow?" Anton asked David.

"It approached me while I was asleep," David informed.

"Aeronautics and Automotive Clubs, if you would!" Aprikose cued with his confident grin.

"Understood!" Yeager replied affirmative as the two mechanically proficient groups presented some evidence they had found. They put forth a water bowl that still had water in it, a nearly finished bowl of cat food, and a box of cat food. "We went searching for evidence upon getting word of the incident from the Presidents, and we found these!"

Azusa then sighed in defeat. "There's no point trying to hide it anymore…" she admitted.

All of the other freshmen there besides Matthias, Bastian, and Saki were trying to get her to stay quiet, but Azusa was one of the _de facto_ leaders of the clique for a reason. Matthias stood beside her with the same look of resignation while Bastian and Saki looked off into space like always. Azusa then grew a determined look.

"The truth is…" Azusa began as she and Matthias both chose to reveal what really happened.

XXXXXXXXXX

"How cute!" Yuuki remarked upon seeing the wildcat earlier in the hangars. The wildcat was eating the cat food out of the bowl. It was relatively tame in its behavior for the moment, which suggested the freshmen had plenty of experience with such animals.

"It's eating the food!" Karina observed.

All of the freshmen were in an area of the hangars that was full of crates. The crates were so great in numbers and stacked such that they ended up creating a small room of sorts along with a small labyrinth to get to the room. Half of the freshmen were kneeled close to the wildcat. Bastian and Saki were staring off into who knows what again while Azusa, Matthias, Ayumi, and Mesut looked on at those kneeled close to the wildcat.

"I wonder if it'll eat a strip of jerky?" Christoph wondered as he tried offering a jerky strip to the wildcat.

"There's no way it'll eat that!" Erik predicted as he watched the wildcat.

"This really isn't any good…" Azusa determined. "Trying to keep a pet like this, and at school no less..."

"But none of our dorms allow the keeping of pets," Matthias spoke up.

"If we get found out by one of the upperclassmen, we'll get scolded for sure," Azusa predicted. She then caught something out of the corner of her eye, and she looked back for a better look. "Ah!" she quietly reacted. "It's Pfirsich!"

Indeed, she could see Pfirsich making his way through the stacked crates unsuspectingly while all of the freshmen started panicking upon finding out he was approaching.

"Oh, the worst possible one that could find out is coming!" Matthias panicked. He quickly got it together though and started issuing orders. "Quick! Hide the wildcat and the other things!"

And so all of the freshmen hastily hid away everything that looked irresponsible, which included the wildcat and the cat food.

"Oh, it's you all," Pfirsich said upon arriving at the area and seeing all of the freshmen standing there. Said freshmen were sweating with nervous smiles. "Why are you all buzzing around over here?"

"Um…" Azusa nervously said as she tried thinking up a reason.

Matthias, however, beat her to it. "W-We were just holding an impromptu strategy meeting!" he said with a similar nervous demeanor.

"Oh, I see," Pfirsich observed as he started looking around. "That's real praiseworthy of you all." He then noticed a bowl of cat food lying around. "Huh? What's that? Are those some new kind of sweets?" He paused a bit before he continued. "Let me have a little."

' _No! Those aren't sweets!_ ' all of the freshmen thought in terror as they tried silently willing Pfirsich to stop. But it was to no avail as Pfirsich reached to the food bowl.

But the wildcat, hiding between some crates, saw his hand start approaching the bowl. The wildcat had deduced that this human was trying to take away the food they had already laid claim to, and so it literally jumped into action as it jumped up to Pfirsich's face.

Pfirsich had only just briefly caught sight of the airborne wildcat and grew alarmed, but he had no time to react any other way as the wildcat immediately landed on his face. The feline then started using its claws to scratch up his head and beat him.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Pfirsich cried out as he flung his arms about to try and get the wildcat off of him. As he did, he had taken hold of a jerky strip and jump rope that both just happened to by lying around. He continued trying to get the larger feline off of him as he continued flailing his arms.

Finally, the wildcat had enough and jumped off of him to make an escape to the tops of the crates, but not without giving a final parting kick to Pfirsich's face as it used his face to boost itself. The kick was easily hard enough so it knocked Pfirsich out.

XXXXXXXXXX

"A-And that's what happened…" Matthias ended the recounting of events. All of the freshmen had looks of nervousness mixed with defeat except for Bastian and Saki, who both stared off again into who knows what.

"One may well say that the wildcat had caused the physical harm, but the troubles of the investigation is because we kept quiet…" Azusa informed with a defeated look.

"That _is_ true…" Aprikose relented as he and Anzu heard them out. They both had awkward looks upon hearing the true events.

Meanwhile, Yuzu had spotted Pfirsich sit up and start rubbing his head. "Pfirsich!" she spoke up in alertness. "Are you awake now?"

"What just happened…?" Pfirsich wondered in a bit of a daze. He was looking better than before, though he still had his uniform scratches along with some scratches on his face still. He then widened his eyes slightly upon seeing what was directly ahead of him.

It was the wildcat just standing there ahead on its four feet looking at Pfirsich. The larger feline then started growling a bit.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Pfirsich cried out in terror. His yell was loud enough to be heard clearly even from outside the hangars.

XXXXXXXXXX

And that's a case of Cat Shoot Pfirsich!

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	47. Kapitel 11,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 ** _Bogen Elf: Es ist die dampfende Reise des Adels!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Do you know this saying?" Darjeeling began with her usual confident yet calm grin as she raised her cup of tea. She was currently in a very watery environment. "'Though we travel the world over to find the beauty, we must carry it with us, or we shall find it not.'"

"Emerson, wasn't it…?" Orange Pekoe identified from close-by.

"And, with that being said, we have come for a relaxing time in this here spring!" Arthur proclaimed from nearby as he raised his cup of tea. All of those there, which included Arthur, Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, Assam, Douglas, and Dennis, all had their own cups of tea as they relaxed in an outdoor spring. Assam was unique in having a towel wrapped around her head.

XXXXXXXXXX

As for how things got to that point, it all started at one of the shopping districts aboard the _HMS Ark Royal_ some time earlier.

"Oh, what's that?" Darjeeling lit up with a sense of excitement as she pointed to one particular stand.

"It looks like they're doing a lottery," Dennis observed the stand in question.

"I want to try that out!" Darjeeling determined as she looked back to the stand with an eager look.

"Well, do you have a ticket for it or something like that?" Orange Pekoe asked.

But Darjeeling had already rushed off to the lottery stand anyway, and she took a crack at the game set up there. The game was one where the contestant had to throw a ball and hit a target that was set up. It would have been easy, had the target not been quite a distance away and very small in size.

But almost as if making fun of its supposed difficulty, Darjeeling had managed to hit the target on her first throw.

"We got a winner!" the person at the stand announced as a bell started ringing.

"Blimey!" Arthur reacted as he grew some wide eyes at the sight. All of the others minus Darjeeling herself were all looking on in varying manners of shock and surprise. Darjeeling had a more pleasantly surprised look.

As she had achieved victory, Lady Darjeeling had correspondingly won the outdoor spring offered as first prize in the shopping district lottery she had stopped by on a whim.

XXXXXXXXXX

"For me, there's no such thing as missing in a lottery!" Darjeeling boasted in her elegant manner.

"Then please draw our lots for the next international tournaments…" Orange Pekoe requested as she held an awkward look.

" _Please,_ " Dennis agreed with a similar awkward look. "Anything to avoid fighting those bloody Germans again…"

"Oh, seems like it's getting hot here," Darjeeling nonchalantly remarked. She then lifted her hands up to her French braided hair. "I wonder if I should let down my hair?"

As Darjeeling let her hair down to its full length to the middle of her back, Arthur chose to watch. Upon seeing her state, his eyes widened a bit. He then started growing a grin as he liked what he saw.

Darjeeling noticed and had grown slightly confused. "Oh?" she wondered as she looked over to Arthur. "Arthur, what is so humorous to you? And what's the idea behind that Cheshire grin?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Arthur calmly dismissed as he held his look.

"Oh, really?" Darjeeling retorted. She didn't seem convinced of his reasoning.

"I just got charmed by a certain Lady Darjeeling, though," Arthur revealed as he leaned closer over to Darjeeling. "There's really nothing to it besides that."

"Oh, my," Darjeeling replied as she grew a blushing smile. She then approached Arthur and circled behind him in a teasing manner. "Well how about I charge you if you want to look so much?" she asked with a more teasing grin.

"Will you accept debit cards?" Arthur responded without skipping a beat as he held forth a debit card with one hand.

Darjeeling giggled a bit before she remarked, "Oh, Arthur…" But she took the card anyway and brought it up to her face as she gave it a brief kiss. "There we go. Contract complete!"

She then chose to close the distance between her and Arthur as she gently put her hand under his chin. "Is it limited to just today?" she seductively asked.

"Mmm, Lady Darjeeling…" Arthur grinned in approval as he stared into her blue eyes.

In the meantime, the other four in the spring were looking on at them with hypnotized looks.

Darjeeling noticed and immediately turned to them in extreme embarrassment. "Lads, stop! Don't look!" she cried out. She ended up splashing the water a bit from her turn. Next to her, though, Arthur only looked on at the others with no sign of any embarrassment. He truly wasn't embarrassed, as he had simply chosen to mess with Darjeeling a bit.

"It's not that," Dennis said.

"We were just wondering how far you two would have gone if we kept ignoring you," Douglas notified.

"Also, for some reason, my head feels really heavy now…" Assam revealed as her head started swaying back and forth. "I'm feeling dizzy now…"

"Oh, Assam's head must have become heavy from absorbing the hot steam!" Darjeeling realized as both she and Orange Pekoe began to panic a bit at Assam's current state. "She's about to go off from the heat!"

"It's no problem!" Orange Pekoe informed as the girls rushed forth to help her. "Let's just untie that towel off from your head!"

Darjeeling and Orange Pekoe both removed Assam's towel, which let her hair down in the process. Her long blonde hair then flowed down to its full length, which was long enough to touch the water.

"It's nice to set yourself free in a hot spring, is it not?" Assam posed the idea. The other girls looked on with looks of shock at her hair while the guys chose to get on out. "But this time I'm getting heavy from absorbing too much water!" Assam said with some impetus in her voice as she started heating up again.

"Not our problem, mate," all three of the boys there replied as they left the outdoor spring.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later after they all got out of the spring, they headed over to the redressing room to get back into a more presentable state. All of them had dressed in robes for the rest of the day. For now, Darjeeling and Assam were getting their hair done up again to their previous appearances. Orange Pekoe chose to do Darjeeling's while all of the guys were needed to do Assam's long and full hair.

Later, all of them got fully presentable and left the area to head off elsewhere. Both Darjeeling and Arthur chose to lead the rest, but the two British commanders looked a bit giddy for some reason. For what reason was unknown to the other four.

Upon coming up to some place, Darjeeling grew another look of excitement upon spotting the place. "Oh, my!" she reacted. "I wonder what this might be!"

"Hey, lads, take a look at that!" Arthur gestured ahead as he grew a glint in his eye. "Ahead lies paradise!"

"But it's just a little arcade," Orange Pekoe informed with a bit of an awkward smile.

"Hey, there's ping-pong!" Arthur revealed as he pointed over to two ping-pong tables. "Let's play some ping-pong!"

And so all of the British folks decided to have games of ping-pong. They were split into a girls' match and a boy's match at the two tables. Only Arthur and Darjeeling looked enthusiastic about it. The others didn't appear as excited about it as them. They were actually dreading the idea a bit.

"Prepare yourselves!" Arthur proclaimed to Dennis and Douglas on the other side of the table. "Or will this cause you both to black out in lack of blood circulation?"

"Are you seriously fine with a two-against-one match?" Dennis asked with a bit of wonder at his superior's daringness.

"Are you even any good at table tennis?" Douglas asked with a deadpan.

"Of course I am!" Arthur replied with his usual confidence. "I'm actually quite fond of tennis!"

"But those are completely different things, Sir Arthur…" Douglas deadpanned as Arthur tossed the ping-pong ball into the air to serve.

He then delivered an extremely quick serve to the other side and ended up getting an ace. The serve was so quick that Dennis and Douglas didn't even have any time to react. The current score now stood at 15-0.

"Is this good enough for you lads?" Arthur asked as he held a competitive glint in his eye.

"Bloody hell, this guy is really something after all!" both Dennis and Douglas finally said more to themselves in looks of stunned shock. They had now grown even more dreadful of playing ping-pong after seeing how skilled Arthur was at it.

It then became nothing but humiliation for Dennis and Douglas. Arthur first delivered yet another ace serve that bounced off of Dennis' paddle and into his cheek. The impact hurt a bit, but it was nothing Dennis couldn't shake off with a bit of time. That made the score 30-0.

Arthur then offered another ace serve that Douglas tried returning. The sheer amount of spin Arthur put on the ball managed to curve it away and out of his reach, though. The score now stood at 40-0.

For the game point, Arthur offered yet another ace serve straight down the middle, and both Dennis and Douglas rushed to return it. They forgot each other's existence, though, and they ended up hitting their heads on each other's own heads in their rush to return the serve. With that, Arthur won one game with a shutout.

"Can we please make some extra rules?" Dennis panted out in exhaustion. "Or it won't be much of a match…"

"Why not just use the ones we would use anywhere else?" Douglas offered. He was also exhausted.

"Oh, that's jolly good by me!" Arthur granted with plenty of energy. "But the regular rules won't be as fun, though."

So Douglas chose to sit out and watch while Dennis took on Arthur in a new game.

"Do you know this saying?" Arthur asked with a confident grin as he held the ping-pong ball in one hand.

Dennis suddenly grew more inspired and competitive upon hearing Arthur begin another saying.

Douglas also looked on with intrigue. He deduced the coming game should be interesting upon seeing both of them enter another of their 'identifying sayings' games.

"'Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination,'" Arthur quoted as he served the ping-pong ball.

"Roy M. Goodman!" Dennis identified as he returned the serve and began a rally.

"'Never go on trips with anyone you do not love,'" Arthur quoted as he hit the ping-pong ball back to Dennis.

"Hemingway!" Dennis identified as he returned the ball to Arthur.

"'Life is a journey, and death its destination,'" Arthur quoted as he continued the rally.

"John Dryden!" Dennis identified again as he returned the ball to Arthur and continued the rally. In the meanwhile, Douglas was staring on at the match with a blank look.

"'Travel teaches tolerance,'" Arthur quoted as he pinged the ball.

"Disraeli!" Dennis identified as he ponged the ball back. Douglas had unconsciously been nodding his head to the beat made by the ping-pong ball impacting the paddles.

"'Never allow yourself to hate a people because of the actions of a few,'" Arthur quoted as he hit the ball back to Dennis.

"That one was said by Erich Hartmann," Dennis identified as he returned the ball and continued the rally. "Actually, make that both Erich Hartmanns. I remember hearing about how the one we know said something similar recently."

But Arthur did not come up with any more sayings, and he did not continue the rally. He had instead discovered one of the claw games that nobody ever wins.

"Behold, lads!" he announced to everyone else as he grew a glint in his eyes.

"Oh, my!" Darjeeling reacted with a glint in her eyes as well upon seeing the game. "It's a catcher!"

"Ah, yes," Dennis responded with an awkward smile as he and the others besides Darjeeling and Arthur went to get change. "Coin machine, coin machine…"

"Oh, here's a coin machine," Douglas said as he found one. At the same time, all of the others in the coin retrieval group held awkward looks at the antics of their so-called leaders, but they served them anyways.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the coins were retrieved, and Assam chose to go first. She had managed to claw the ear of a stuffed Dachshund, but the stuffed animal dropped from the claw. "Oh, that's too bad," she remarked in unfortunateness.

"Do you ever get the feeling that these are just impossible to win?" Dennis asked as he looked on with the others.

"Yeah, it seems that way," Douglas opined.

"Do you know this saying?" Darjeeling began. She then rushed forth to the so-called catcher's controls with a determined smile on her face. "'If you try, it can be achieved! If you don't, it will never be!'" she quoted as she aggressively manipulated the controls.

All of the others were watching her and the hook with intrigue as to what would happen next.

"'Achieving no-' Oh, the things over there look cute too!" Darjeeling had begun, but she had diverted her attention to something else. Because of her diversion, the claw had started moving somewhere else while she was unaware.

"Earth to Darjeeling?!" everyone else panicked as they saw the claw's movements. But Darjeeling did not turn back, and she continued manipulating the controls while looking away.

"Ah, it went to a weird spot," Orange Pekoe noted with a tone that implied unfortunateness. The claw had ended up moving deep down into the pile of stuffed animals.

"Because you looked away…" Assam lamented.

But soon, everyone besides the oblivious Darjeeling widened their eyes as they noticed the claw catch one of the stuffed animals by a bandage wrapped around its arm. The animal in question was a Boko doll, which explained why there was a bandage on it.

The claw ended up taking a number of other stuffed animals with it that were all caught on the Boko doll. Five of them ended up getting to the drop-off area.

Darjeeling took them all and handed two each over to Assam and Orange Pekoe. She had tried to offer some to the guys, but they just held up a hand in a gesture saying she didn't have to, so she chose to give them to the girls instead.

"Oh, how wonderful luck!" she commented with a genuine smile as she held a Boko doll.

"Thank you…" Orange Pekoe and Assam awkwardly thanked Darjeeling for the stuffed animals. Among the other stuffed animals was another more normal bear, an owl wrapped in a sheet, a Scottish Fold cat recognizable by its folding ears, and, ironically, a black cat. Often associated with bad luck, in this case, it was good luck that acquired the black cat.

"Hey, let's go over to this one over here next!" Arthur called out. He was sitting at the row of arcade machines present in the small arcade. "Lads, be my opponents!" he insisted as he started the game up.

"Oh, boy, one of those beat-em-up games," Douglas remarked as he and the others approached. "Have you even played one of these before?"

"No, but it doesn't look _that_ hard!" Arthur replied.

During the fights on the arcade machines, it was always Arthur that came out on top. He did so while going perfect in the game as well, meaning he never even got hit once. Dennis sighed in defeat after becoming the latest of Arthur's victims.

Next, all of them went to go pick out numbered balls from one of those random number generators, and Darjeeling managed to pick the winning number. All of the others besides Arthur looked on in disbelief. Arthur just grew a slightly more competitive grin as he grew determined to beat her at the next game.

The next game was one of the racing games. As he had determined to do, Arthur had steamrolled everyone, including Darjeeling. Darjeeling looked at her game screen in disbelief while Arthur held a victorious look mixed with his usual confidence. Behind them were all of the others looking on with awkward smiles at the competitive pair.

Next, all of them decided to play a round of bowling. Darjeeling managed to win this one after bowling a perfect game, or a score of 300. Arthur had missed one pin on the last throw, and ended up with a score of 299 as a result. The others clapped for the great competition, though.

The group then decided to play some pool next, and Arthur won this one. His final shot was one that required jumping the cue ball over another ball in his path. He deliberately picked out the farthest pocket, so he needed as much accuracy on the ball to get it to the pocket. Such accuracy couldn't be achieved with any control if the cue ball was banked off one of the banks with the way the balls were laid out, hence his choice for the trick shot. Everyone had grown anticipating looks at seeing the shot he had to make before looking on in disbelief after Arthur actually _made_ said shot.

Next up came some classic slot machines. Darjeeling got three lucky number sevens all in a row, and she won big in response. The others looked on in disbelief at the massive amounts of coinage she had won.

Another game was effectively a karaoke showdown. Arthur had managed to win this one after managing to sing both the full version of _The British Grenadiers_ along with _Back in Control_ flawlessly. Everyone besides Darjeeling, who also sang, was playing various instruments to fit the mood. Assam had a violin while Orange Pekoe had a large drum, and Douglas had an electric guitar while Dennis had a keyboard.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, all of them were back at the large estate that belonged to Darjeeling. They all actually lived there, but it was under Darjeeling's name, so it was _legally_ considered hers.

"Blimey, we sure played a lot," Darjeeling remarked with a smile. The British were all in a room with a mid-size table that could seat six.

"Yeah, but Sir Arthur and Lady Darjeeling were mostly unrivaled though…" Douglas noted with a smile of his own.

"I'll make us some tea," Orange Pekoe started as she reached the boiling vessel. But the sounds of cards hitting the table near them broke her away from the boiling vessel. Douglas, Assam, Orange Pekoe, and Dennis all grew a bit surprised as they raised their eyebrows.

They all grew a bit surprised until they saw that Darjeeling was shuffling a deck of cards in her hands, and everyone started sweating nervously upon discovering the implications of her actions.

Arthur already had a full hand of five cards, and he nonchalantly scanned them. "I think it's about time we start with the more adult games now, isn't it?" he asked them with his typical confident grin as he held his poker hand with just one hand.

"Man, these guys are nonstop!" all of the others besides Darjeeling and Arthur reacted in stunned shock. They finally got it together, though, as they joined in, even if regrettably upon realizing they didn't really have much of a choice.

"These two just _have_ to be great poker players," Douglas figured as he sorted his hand.

"It seems like their hands had been coming together ever since the beginning…" Dennis guessed with an awkward smile as he sorted his own hand.

"Oh, can this be?" Darjeeling wondered with an elated smile upon looking at her hand.

"It seems like _something's_ about to come," Orange Pekoe determined, and she folded in response.

"She's someone where you don't know if it even takes a turn in poker," Assam remarked as she also folded.

"Oh, bloody hell, screw this hand," Dennis chose to fold as well.

"Bah, why do I always get the shit hands?" Douglas also chose to fold his hand. So now only Arthur and Darjeeling remained in play.

Arthur had a look of displeasure on his face as he looked at his hand. "I don't like this hand, but there is no bloody way in hell that I would give you a free win," Arthur finally spoke up. "Raise."

"Oh, really?" Darjeeling retorted with a cocky grin. "How about I raise you again?"

"You want to go all the way and go all in?" Arthur challenged as he went all in.

"Alright then, I'll call that," Darjeeling accepted the challenge and chose to go all in as well.

Darjeeling chose to reveal her hand first. "Straight flush," she revealed with confidence. She had a straight flush from two to six, all hearts.

"Royal flush!" Arthur retorted as he flopped his hand over. He indeed had a royal flush, of spades to be specific. Darjeeling pouted in response at getting defeated. She had gotten played by Arthur as he deliberately feigned having an awful hand.

"This is one of those games where it's best to pull out of it when you can sense danger," Dennis remarked as the others awkwardly stared on at the game.

"But does that mean we can have a pillow fight next?" Orange Pekoe asked. All of the others besides Arthur and Darjeeling were by now holding something behind their backs. Assam and Douglas both had slightly mischievous looks at what was lined up next.

"Yes, but of course!" Arthur granted. "Let us just get the futon ready and-"

"Surprise!" the other four proclaimed as they pulled out pillows from behind their backs. Both Arthur and Darjeeling grew surprised for the first time that night.

"Let us make the first move for once!" Dennis proclaimed in addition.

"Lady Darjeeling and Sir Arthur, prepare your arses!" Douglas also proclaimed as all four of those armed with pillows surrounded the two British commanders.

"Surprise!" both Darjeeling and Arthur counterclaimed as they each pulled out two pillows. With their revelation that they were also armed with pillows, the other four had grown stunned momentarily, and Arthur and Darjeeling chose to take advantage.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later after the pillow fight was over, Assam, Douglas, Dennis, and Orange Pekoe were lying on the ground amongst many pillows after being soundly defeated.

"I don't think we'll ever be able to match those two in a lifetime," Dennis remarked as he lied in defeat.

"What a coincidence, I had similar thoughts…" Douglas spoke up.

"Just where is that thing…?" Assam muttered to herself as she tried searching for something amongst the pillows.

"Lady Darjeeling, Sir Arthur…" Orange Pekoe complained. "I'm already worn out…"

Upon not hearing a response, Orange Pekoe grew confused. "Hello?" she asked as she looked around. "Lady Darjeeling? Sir Arthur?"

All four of the others then more clearly heard the gentle breathing of someone sleeping, and they all looked to the source. The source was both Arthur and Darjeeling that had both fallen asleep. For whatever reason, Darjeeling was curled up atop Arthur, but the British fighter ace didn't seem to even notice it as he slept on.

"Mother of God…" Douglas said with an exasperated grin.

"Really now," Dennis said with a similar grin. "There's no way we can match that in reality."

Assam then showed the others a small camera she had brought along, and she winked in a way that conveyed her plans to them. The others nodded as they understood and returned looks of agreement.

All of them then decided to lie around the two sleeping British commanders in such a way that all of their heads were close to each other. All of them besides those sleeping smiled as Assam held up the camera above them. It was pointed such that it would capture everyone's face from above. Upon getting everything set up, Assam then snapped the picture.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	48. Kapitel 12,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zwölf: Verloren!_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: In der Stadt verloren_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Um…" Miho nervously began with a nervous smile to match. Beside her was of course her lover Erich, but on her other side was Erika. Also there was Hans beside Erika. The two from Schwarzwaldspitze had more restrained looks, but they still sweated a bit in dread of what had happened to them all. Erich had a calm grin as always, as if he didn't sense the gravity of the current situation.

All of them were in their respective school uniforms as they looked around the area, which included the personal additions Erich and Miho wore. They were all standing in the middle of a large group of people that they didn't know.

"It seems like we've gotten lost…" Miho nervously began as she started taking hold of Erich's arm with her own two arms. "In an unknown city…"

"That looks to be true…" Erika determined with her more restrained look.

Hans looked over to Erich and found him with his usual calm grin. Unlike the girls, he already knew Erich's role in their getting lost, and he shook his head in exasperation at it.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Aah, that sure was a surprise," Anzu remarked as she stretched her arms above her head.

"You can say that again," Aprikose agreed as he nodded beside her. "I thought we finally had a port available for us, but then we find out we have to share it with the _Graf Zeppelin._ "

Indeed, the _Zuikaku_ and _Graf Zeppelin_ were both sharing the same port in Bournemouth within Britain. This port was constructed for the strict use of school ships, considering none of them could fit within the inlet that headed to the port of Poole not far away. That meant the beaches by Bournemouth were constructed over to make the port, meaning the beaches there were no longer as large as they used to be.

"The number of ports a school ship can dock in are limited, so situations like these can happen from time to time," Pfirsich remarked.

"But it does still feel a little awkward, all things considered," Zitrus also noted.

At the port, all of the Ooarai students in their normal uniforms had gotten off as they grew full of energy to go off and explore the English city. This included the _Anglerfish_ Team and the ground crew for _Messer-Ein._

"Hey!" Anton garnered his friends' attentions. He had a grin that held enthusiasm in it along with a desire to know something. "I couldn't ask during the fight against them, but you think those German girls in Schwarzwaldspitze are hot?"

"You can try as much as you like, Anton," Herz granted as he held his typical calm smile. "But you _don't_ want to piss them off. I remember Erich once said how overly strict they are over there. He likened many of the girls over there to tanks, with them being as difficult to penetrate as armor and as piercing and pain-inflicting as a cannon."

"Oh, are you kidding me?" Anton lamented. He then slumped his shoulders as he sighed in defeat. "Man, why are they so strict anyways…"

"Well I don't know about you all," Nathan began. He had his bag with him on his back. Because of his well-known reputation as being prepared for anything, he predictably had mainly survival equipment within. "But I definitely want to talk with the folks from their aviation department, eh! Those same guys that we crossed paths with during the big fight we had…" he ended with an enthusiastic glint in his eyes.

"Let me guess," David began with his typical deadpan tone. "You want to have a highly-involved fighter chat with them?"

Nathan chuckled lightly a bit. "You can tell, eh?" he replied to David.

"Well, I don't think it should be needed," Anzu began with her usual carefree tone as she gathered everyone's attention. Everyone turned to her and Aprikose in response. "But everyone, please don't cause trouble for the Schwarzwaldspitze students. That would be bothersome for us to deal with."

"Got it!" everyone else replied affirmative.

"So, what should we do, Lady Nishizumi?" Yukari asked as she turned around. "Even though the President said that, do you and _Bubi_ plan on paying your siblings a visit or something like that?"

"Well, if we do that, then-" Saori began, but she stopped upon seeing that Miho wasn't there.

"Huh?" Yukari wondered in confusion as she couldn't track down Miho, either. "Lady Nishizumi?"

"Actually, now that I look around, where's _Bubi?_ " Anton similarly wondered as he took a look around. Indeed, he could not find Erich around the area, either.

"Where could they have gone off to?" Nathan wondered aloud as he brought his hand to his chin in thought. All of the others were in similar confusion about their two friends' whereabouts. Although they were sure they were okay, they couldn't help but wonder where they were at.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in Bournemouth, the four 'lost' Germans were walking together to try and find their way back. Hans and Erich were further ahead from Erika and Miho. Erika was getting a bit irritated at seeing Miho follow after her unsteadily, like a lost puppy.

Erika chose to turn towards her with no warning, and Miho stopped in a bit of alarmed nervousness. Upon seeing her, Erika chose to walk off again at a more brisk pace. But Miho continued to follow after her in her nervous way. Erika turned to her again upon hearing her trotting behind her, and Miho stopped in her nervous way again.

Up ahead, Hans and Erich were both looking on at the scene. "Remind me _why_ we're doing this again?" Hans asked Erich with a bit of a deadpan look.

"To get those two to be friends," Erich replied with his calm smile. He then looked over to Hans. "Who's to say that they can't be like us? Fiercely competitive in combat, but friends outside of combat?"

Hans mulled over Erich's words for a moment. "Fine," he sighed out. "I just hope that this works out for them and that this won't be a wasted effort."

"Hans and I are heading back to the port alone, so could you stop following me, you lost puppy?" Erika finally asked Miho out of irritation of being followed by her.

"Er… Well… Um…" Miho nervously said with a nervous smile to match. "I left my phone behind…"

"Huuuuuh?" Erika groaned out in a disbelieving way as she slumped her shoulders a bit.

"W-Well… I'm sorry, but could I perhaps borrow… yours… for a while?"

' _Man, and I thought this girl grew up a bit in Ooarai, but it looks like she's still just as useless outside of a Panzer as she always was…_ ' Erika thought. ' _No wonder she has to have someone like Bubi with her all the time._ ' She then sighed. "Fine, I guess it can't be helped," she replied.

' _Whether be it disappointment or be it relief…_ ' she thought in musing as she began searching for her phone. "Hm?" she wondered upon not finding it in her left pocket. So she tried her right pocket. "Huh?" she reacted as she started sweating nervously upon not feeling it there, either. "Wait, what?"

Miho started looking confused at Erika seemingly not being able to find her phone. Erich was looking on with his calm smile, as if oblivious to what was happening, while Hans rolled his eyes at seeing Erich acting innocent.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere at the area where Schwarzwaldspitze's students were gathered, Maho had her phone out as she tried calling Erika. The dial tone kept going until she arrived at Erika's voicemail. "It seems Erika isn't picking up her _Handy,_ " Maho observed. She was a bit confused at Erika not picking up, but her typical emotionless face made it difficult for anyone to tell.

Alfred, however, was able to tell from his place with her. "Really?" he wondered with his same unemotional look. "Even though it's past the gathering time?" All of the Schwarzwaldspitze students around them were in their school uniforms as they stretched themselves out for the moment.

Among them, Koume felt something vibrating in her white purse, and she grew a bit confused at it. So she dug through it and ended up finding a phone that wasn't hers. "Wait, isn't this Erika's _Handy?_ " she wondered as she held the ringing phone. "Why is it in my bag?"

XXXXXXXXXX

' _Oh, this sucks hard,_ ' Erika thought as she grew a begrudging look at realizing she didn't have her phone. ' _And here I thought I could get us some help…_ '

"… You don't have a phone?" Miho asked in response. She had a bit of a nervous edge to her voice.

"No! I don't!" Erika barked as she turned to Miho. "But…" she tried to come up with an idea. She finally got one as she pointed to Hans. "Hans! Use your phone!" she commanded.

"Alright, alright, chill out first," Hans chose to obey the command and searched for his phone. He pulled it out a bit later and tried to turn it on, but the phone did not come on. "Huh?" he wondered as he tried turning it on again. The phone did not come on, though. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me…" he groaned out upon realizing what the phone not turning on meant. "My phone's dead."

Erika grew a slight tick at that news, and she then faced Erich. "Don't tell me you don't have yours," she spoke to him, but the way she said it made it sound a bit like a threat, as if saying that he better have his phone.

Erich shook his head as he remained calm. "Sorry, but mine's dead, too," he revealed.

"Uuuuugh…" Erika groaned in response.

Hans tried to search for something else to use in the meantime. He finally lit up as he spotted an English phone booth. "Hey, let's use that!" he spoke up as he pointed over there. He had immediately started over there.

Erika saw the English phone booth, and she grew a determined grin as she started over to it. She also took hold of Erich's and Miho's hands and dragged the two with her over there. "If we can contact someone from here…" she voiced her thoughts.

Hans reached the phone first, and Erika came up beside it with the two other Germans in hand. Erich, however, noticed the design of the phone when Hans went to use it.

"Wait a minute, doesn't this phone booth require a card?" Erich wondered. Hans stopped at hearing his revelation, and Erika started sweating a bit in dread.

"Yeah, this _is_ one of those," Miho noticed as well. "I don't have a card, though…"

"There should be vendors around that sell them!" Erika determined as she dragged Erich and Miho over to find one with Hans.

All of them eventually found a vendor for telephone cards, but all besides Erich grew looks of dread upon seeing an out-of-order sign posted on it.

"… They _don't…_ " Erika dreadfully noted. She then noticed she was holding onto both Erich's and Miho's hands, and she grew a slight blush as she immediately pulled them away.

"Oh, whatever then!" Erika began again with her typical somewhat mad tone. "All we can do at this point now is walk towards the port using the ships as a guide!"

"Ah, that's right," Miho replied as she came to the same conclusion.

"Yeah, considering they're so big that you can see them from anywhere," Erich agreed.

"That's the only good thing about _Schulschiffe,_ anyways," Hans remarked in agreement.

"Ah, well now that we've decided on that…" Miho began as she started off to one store. "Sorry, but could you all please wait?" she asked the other four as she entered the store alone.

The store in question was a store that sold Boko merchandise, known by the name 'Boko Fancy.' Erika and Hans both looked on at it in confusion while Erich looked on with his calm smile. Erich already knew why Miho went there.

' _What's up with her and that fancy shop?_ ' Erika wondered in her head.

"Do you have any idea what's up with her and those things?" Hans asked as he stood beside Erich.

"I believe it's an inspiration of sorts for her," Erich detailed with his calm smile. "She has this belief that she's a helpless girl, and she found that as a common link between her and those things."

"Why would she believe that when she has you?" Hans wondered with a raised eyebrow.

Erich shrugged in response. "She's extremely shy," Erich revealed the obvious. "Because of that, she didn't end up having many friends growing up, so she got interested in these things." He then saw Miho come out of the store with a new Boko doll in hand. "There she is."

"Don't tell me you got lost because of _that…_ " Erika groaned upon seeing Miho approach them with her Boko doll.

Miho nervously giggled in response. "Y-You can tell?" she replied. "This is the latest model that hasn't come over to Ooarai yet, and after I saw it…"

"You've already liked this stuff since I met you, now that you mention it," Erika remarked as she held her hands to her hips in a nonchalant posture.

"Yeah!" Miho nodded with her unique smile. "You remembered that!"

"But I don't see what's so likable about that," Erika retorted without a care as she began walking on. " _Los!_ " Hans came in and walked on alongside her upon hearing her command.

In response to hearing Erika's words on Boko, Miho grew upset as she frowned.

Erich noticed and came in beside her. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. "Don't worry about that," he told her quietly. "That's just Erika being Erika."

Miho was evidently assured by his words as she grew a little happier. "Thanks," she thanked him as she leaned against him.

Erich smiled at seeing her get happy again. He also had taken her bag in the meantime. He then turned over to face Erika and Hans farther ahead. "By the way, you guys, how did you two get lost anyhow?" he asked.

"Don't say lost!" Hans grunted to himself as he and Erika stopped and sweated nervously.

"Huh, us?" Erika asked. "We…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Earlier, Schwarzwaldspitze's students were on one of the busses heading around the area. Everyone was doing minor things to keep themselves entertained for the ride. For Hans, he chose to sleep. He had a good reason for sleeping, though. He had previously finished up a vigorous training regiment of his own creation before heading out on the bus. Right now, he way lying across a bench seat he had claimed earlier by immediately falling asleep on it.

Erika, in the meantime, was on her phone. She then raised her eyebrows a bit in alert as she got an e-mail. She then leaned forth in her seat.

" _Fräulein und Herr,_ I just got an e-mail," she spoke up to Maho and Alfred. They were both on the bench seat ahead of her, and they turned to Erika upon hearing her. "That matter you were both talking about was just settled."

"I see," Alfred replied as he and Maho nodded in satisfaction. " _Danke._ "

Erika then leaned back into her seat and put her phone away. She had by now grown tired, so she did not realize she had simply tossed it into Koume's bag beside her. As proof of how tired she was, she gave off a great yawn that she tried to cover up with her hand. She looked around tiredly to see what was going on around her, and she managed to spot Hans sleeping across his seat.

' _Man, why does he even push himself so hard anyway?_ ' she wondered within her thoughts. ' _Is he trying to impress somebody or something?_ ' She then felt herself get even sleepier at the sight. ' _But I guess he has the right idea right now with sleeping._ ' And so Erika chose to submit to the tiredness as well, and she fell asleep against the window.

Eventually, the bus came to a stop. " _Jeder, das ist unser Halt,_ " Alfred announced to everyone on the bus.

" _Jawohl,_ " everyone else replied, and they made to get off the bus. The only two that did not reply or move to get off were Erika and Hans as they both remained asleep. As the bus continued on its route, the sounds of Erika and Hans asleep were all that could be heard on the now empty bus.

XXXXXXXXXX

"… So you two got left behind without anyone noticing?" Miho asked with a touch of her usual nervousness.

In response, both Erika and Hans grew extremely angry looks at Miho for her insinuation, and Miho grew terrified and hid behind Erich. "Ah! No!" she tried to correct herself as she shook in fear at the looks of anger aimed at her. "They should all be looking for both of you right now! I'm sure…!"

"Really now!" Hans replied with a touch of anger left in him as he and Erika turned around. "We ought to leave _you_ behind for saying that!" he ended as he and Erika started off on their own.

"Ah-Wait…" Miho reacted as she tried to follow.

"Oh, boy, this isn't good," Erich remarked to himself upon seeing the current situation, and he followed as well.

Miho and Erich both ended up having to chase down Hans and Erika through a crowd of people. "Excuse us, excuse us," Erich said as he weaved through the crowd with Miho in tow. He held onto her hand to make sure they didn't lose each other in the crowd. "Hey, wait up!" he spoke up as he got a sight of Erika and Hans.

Erich then ran into a barrel and ended up falling over upon striking it. " _Scheißt!_ " he cursed as he hit his knee on the barrel and let go of Miho's hand. Hans and Erika stopped upon hearing Erich curse.

Miho instinctively came over to support him as Erich tried to shake off the feeling from his knee. But Miho noticed a picture leaning against the barrel. "Oh, is this the local mascot?" she wondered as she grew a bit of a smile at seeing it.

Erich took notice as he shook his injury off. "A chara?" he observed the picture in question. "That's one ugly mascot, I must say."

"But that's what makes it cute!" Miho responded as she grew her unique bright smile.

The both of them then discovered Erika and Hans looking down on them with less-than-pleased expressions.

"Ah, um, don't mind that," Miho said to them with a bit of nervousness again. "So-Huh?" she reacted as she felt herself getting moved back.

Erich looked around and noticed that the crowd of people was moving them back as they walked the other way from Erika and Hans. "Hey, guys, can you all put us down?" he asked the random strangers nearby, but they didn't pay him any attention. Hans and Erika sweated a bit as they looked on at the scene.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Lady Nishizumi!" Yukari called out in attempts to find the other two people of her group. " _Bubi!_ " She was with all of the others from Ooarai at the port still, and they were all similarly searching for their two commanders.

"Oh, it seems Miho left her phone behind," Hana noticed as she looked through her own bag and found Miho's phone there.

"For those two to get themselves lost immediately…" Pfirsich grumbled. "That's a clear evidence of slacking off!"

"Oh, my," Anzu remarked with a nonchalant grin as she held her arms behind her head. "I wonder if they chose to go on an escapade or something?"

"That's not out of the realm of possibility, you know," Aprikose agreed as he stood with her and the rest of the student council.

Elsewhere, Ron had his upper body in a trash can as he 'contributed' to the search. " _Staffelkapitän_ Hartmann! Captain Nishizumi!" he called out from within.

"I don't really think either of them would be in such a place," Harry awkwardly said as he looked on at the scene.

Upon finding nothing, Ron chose to jump out using his hands that were placed along the rim of the can and using the rim as a boost. He bumped into someone upon landing, though. "Oh, sorry about that," he instinctively apologized as he turned around.

"Oh, no, that was my fault," the other person, the Ho 229 Pilot, waved off as he turned to Ron. "Huh?" he stopped as he looked at Ron.

It then clicked where he had seen Ron before, and he grew an extremely angered look as he pointed at Ron and yelled, "Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Ron looked on with slight confusion at the action along with a sweat drop. Some of the others from both Ooarai and Schwarzwaldspitze heard and turned their attention over to the action.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in the city, Erika, Miho, Hans, and Erich were all taking some time to relax at the Dreadnought Café.

"Jeez, really now!" Erika said as she looked across at Miho who was once again shy. "At least you didn't drop your bags or anything, did you?"

"No, _Bubi_ took them for me, so I'm fine," Miho replied in her typical shyly nervous demeanor. "Sorry…"

"Eh, it's fine," Hans waved off from beside Erika. "We'll go on as soon as you calm down a little."

"That's fine with me," Erich agreed as he devoured a cake he ordered while sitting beside Miho. It wasn't just a slice of cake. In a fashion that was usual for him, he ordered an entire cake. He was already nearly finished with it.

"You're kidding me…" Hans groaned as he looked on at Erich and Miho being how they usually were outside of combat. "And these are the two that won the Arts of Warfare International Tournaments…"

Miho shyly laughed at the remark while Erich chose to respond as he finished his cake. "Well, those victories weren't just because of us," he informed with his typical calmness. "Those wins wouldn't have been possible without all of Ooarai's help."

"Good for you to have such splendid camaraderie there," Erika remarked with a begrudging tone. "No wonder you chose to abandon us, those who ate, slept, and strived for that same purpose alongside you."

Both Miho and Erich noticed what she was implying as they raised their eyebrows, and Miho had started shaking her hands in denial. "So-So-So-Sorry, but…" she began with a nervous look.

"Ooarai is special," Erich spoke up with clarity. Hans and Erika grew slight intrigue at his statement. "Ooarai is a place where we can do what we wish and not face any conflict from doing so."

Miho looked over to him and had agreed with what he said, but she still had that nervous look from the implication that they abandoned Schwarzwaldspitze. "Um…" she began as she twiddled her fingers nervously. "Yeah, that's why…" she hesitantly agreed verbally as she continued looking nervous.

Erika sighed in response. "I get it, I get it," she spoke up.

"Well, anyways," Hans began. "We know our way back now, and I'm sure you both know we're in a hurry, so let's get something to eat," he ended as he pushed a button to summon a waitress that they were all ready to order.

" _Bubi's_ happy with any _Kartoffelgericht,_ I imagine," Erika commented as she looked at the menu. "But Miho, you liked stuff like macaron, right?"

"Huh?" Miho reacted. "Oh, yeah."

" _Kartoffeln_ is fine with me," Erich replied with his calm smile.

Erika looked on at the two before she grew a smirk. "You've both come to the point where I can really call you something," she remarked. " _Fräulein Kapitän und herr Staffelkapitän!_ "

"Which reminds me," Hans began as he changed the conversation's direction. "About that… _creature_ with snakes sprouting from it like Medusa that we got at Christmas," he began. "Just what was that thing?"

"Huh, what do you mean?" Miho reacted as she grew alarmed at Hans' description. "What are you talking about?!"

"Well, for some reason it caught _fräulein Kapitän's_ interest, and-" Erika continued, but was cut off.

"Did _Schwester_ get possessed by something?!" Miho started to freak out.

Erich, however, had deduced what the two other Germans were talking about. "Oh, you're talking about that Arraipe?" he asked in response. "Well, that's something that came from one of the shops in Ooarai. I don't really know what it is, but I thought it looked pretty interesting when I first saw it."

Hans looked on at the scene with a somewhat blank look. "… You're both very strange people," he finally said. "Speaking of which, I had no idea that _herr Staffelkapitän_ liked _Kartoffeln_ as much as you do."

"Oh, _that,_ " Erich said as he grew a grin. "Well, he has his own preferred tastes for it, like whiskey for instance, so that's why I sent him some."

Hans shook his head in response. "Jeez," he remarked. "So similar, yet so different."

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere at the port, an explosive situation was currently in place. Eight particular members of Schwarzwaldspitze's Arts of Warfare efforts were angrily staring down the large Ooarai group opposite them.

"Meeting us here is your doom, light tank!" the _Maus_ Commander angrily proclaimed with a devil-like grin.

"But it's a medium tank!" Noriko and Akebi retorted.

"Um, so who was the one who shot me?" the _Panzer_ III Commander asked a bit awkwardly.

"Those crewing the _Hetzer,_ come out!" both the _Jagdpanther_ Commander and _Panther_ Commander angrily demanded with tears in their eyes. They looked like they were still heavily scarred emotionally by the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t).

"You're dead, you biplane!" the Ho 229 Pilot claimed as he raised a fist in anger.

"Can anyone tell me where I can find the one who shot me down?" the Bf 109 Pilot asked as he slightly raised his hand.

"Whoever was flying the _Dora,_ show yourself!" the Ta 152 Pilot and Fw 190 Pilot demanded with a great amount of anger.

Upon hearing that some of the Germans wanted their heads, the entire student council wisely chose to sneak off and leave everyone behind while they were all distracted. "Well, I think it's time to beat a hasty retreat, guys," Aprikose proposed to the others. He received no objections as they all continued to sneak away.

"Everyone, calm down!" Alfred ordered the Schwarzwaldspitze members as he and Maho came on the scene. "Do not be the ones to fire the first shots."

"By the way," Maho began to Yukari as she looked around for her sister and her sister's boyfriend. "I can't seem to find your _Kommandeuren_ anywhere…"

"W-Well, the truth is that Erich and Miho are currently-" Yukari chose to fess up, but she was interrupted as some other people approached.

"What's going on everyone?" Erich asked with his calm demeanor as he, Miho, Hans, and Erika approached.

"Lady Nishizumi?! _Bubi?!_ " Yukari turned around to face them with pleasant surprise. "Your safe return is…" she trailed off.

Why she trailed off was because she saw all four of the recent arrivals holding hands with each other. The two girls were in the middle as the guys stood at the edges. Erich once again held Miho's bag from the Boko shop.

" _Herr und fräulein!_ " Hans began. "We're terribly sorry we got separated from the group."

Nobody in the explosive situation responded as they all looked on at the four with a raised eyebrow. They were wondering how the four of them could get along together without descending into fighting. They knew that Hans and Erich had a rocky friendship if it could even be called that, but they also knew how Erika's and Miho's personalities were so different from each other that it seemed impossible for them to even try to be friends.

"And how long do you plan to stick to me, you lost puppy?!" Erika barked at Miho as she removed her hand from Miho's.

"Thank you, Erika!" Miho thanked her in a way typical of her anyways. She could tell Erika wasn't being hurtful with her deriding.

"Well there was no other way since you would somehow get lost if we did something different!" Erika tried to dismiss as she held her mad look.

Hans and Erich looked to each other and rolled their eyes at seeing the two 'friends' interact with each other.

"Anyway, let's go, Hans!" Erika demanded as she dragged Hans away.

" _Jawohl,_ " Hans responded on cue as he went along with her. It was only around this time that Miho and Erika began to notice for themselves that everyone was looking at them in bafflement. The two girls grew slightly confused at the looks.

XXXXXXXXXX

' _I didn't really understand their looks of confusion upon seeing us, but at least it helped dispel the explosive situation that was taking place before,_ ' Erika reflected within her mind as she walked down the halls later that day to her room. ' _Thankfully it seems everyone managed to get back on their ship._ '

Erika finally reached her room. "Man, what an overly complicated day!" she finally grunted out in exhaustion and relief as the odd day came to an end for her.

She then noticed another Arraipe on her bed with a note on it. The note said, 'Thanks for today.' It was signed by Miho.

"… But just what in the world is this?" Erika wondered as she stared at the Arraipe.

"Aaaaaah!" she heard Hans scream in anger. Their rooms were not far apart from each other, so she could clearly hear that it was him. " _Kartoffeln gefällt mir nicht! Wann wirst du das lernen?!_ "

Erika rolled her eyes in exasperation at hearing him on another of his tirades. "I guess _Bubi_ got him some _Kartoffeln_ as a gift or something…" Erika figured. She then stopped as she started thinking hard. "Wait a minute…"

She had remembered how it was practically impossible for Erich to get lost considering his vast talent with navigation, so she was wondering why they were even lost in the first place with him around.

Erika then lit up as she came to a realization. "He got us lost on purpose, didn't he?!" she realized as her face started to grow a look of anger as well.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	49. Kapitel 12,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zwölf: Verloren!_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau - Die Mädels des Himmels_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein_

One particular day, a young German boy, about five years old, was watching with awe as an early Messerschmitt Bf 109 B-2 came into land with gear and flaps down in his family's large manor's yard. The _Bruno_ had a civil registration on the tail that read 'H-0352.' The boy looking up at the early German fighter had short light brown hair and similarly colored eyes. He wore some blue jeans and an orange button-up shirt.

 _Und das heißt_

As the early _Messer_ came to a stop, the pilot for it climbed out. Rather humorously, the pilot was a girl around the same age as the boy. She had a stereotypical German appearance with blonde hair that reached her shoulders and blue eyes. She wore an outfit that consisted of a black skirt and a white shirt with a small black jacket.

 _Erika_

This girl was always one that had a smile on her face. She was someone who was very fun loving and daring, but it was clearly visible that she already had quite the experience with flying aircraft. She had that same smile on her face as she walked up and greeted the brunette-haired German boy that was watching her.

 _Heiß von hunderttausend kleinen Bienelein_

After meeting for the first time, both the boy and girl grew to be good friends as they began attending school together. Over the years in elementary school, they had come to be nicknamed the ' _Panzer und Jäger Duo_ ' by many of their classmates because both were highly skilled with regards to using either tanks for the boy, or fighter aircraft for the girl.

 _Wird umschwärmt_

One day during their last year in elementary school, they entered their very populated school together. All of the other kids in the halls looked over and saw her enter with her best friend. Upon seeing she had come, all of the other kids flocked over to the blond-haired German girl with smiles on their faces.

 _Erika_

Most everyone there seemed to like this girl. This was how many days were for the blond-haired German girl. Why everyone liked to be around her was because she was a very friendly person. She wasn't shy at all, so she could get along with just about anyone.

 _Denn ihr Herz ist voller Süßigkeit_

She almost always had a happy demeanor, and it was very rare to ever see her get mad at anyone. She was also very kind and caring, as the brunette boy she befriended five years prior surely already knew. He had already gotten plenty of support from her to help defeat his natural shyness.

 _Zarter Duft entströmt dem Blütenkleid_

As such, the blond-haired German girl often had an irresistible aura around her that helped get everyone to flock over to her. Although she would never admit that she was so charming to everyone because of how humble she is, it's still an undeniable fact that she is so charming according to her brunette friend.

 _Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein_

Later during that summer, the blond-haired German girl had taken off from her family's large front yard in a Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4. She had chosen to have a duel with another identical aircraft being flown by a certain relative of hers. This was her first taste of taking on an enemy in the air.

 _Und das heißt_

The dogfight was hard for her considering how highly skilled her opponent was. She had tried getting on the tail of her foe, but her enemy continued easily evading her. So she changed tactics. She instead chose to set herself up to take her opponent head-on. Although she was taking a huge risk with a head-on attack, she was willing to take it to shoot down her foe.

 _Erika_

As both came into each other's sights, both _Emils_ opened fire on each other. They did not miss, and they ended up taking each other out in the process. They shot each other down at the same time, too, so there was no definite winner for this fight. But the blond-haired German girl in one of the _Emils_ still had a smile on her face as she laughed in enjoyment, for she had a lot of fun anyway.

 _In der Heimat wohnt ein kleines Mägdelein_

Four years later, both she and her brunette German friend had headed off to Schwarzwaldspitze High School of Germany to begin their freshman year of high school. Nowadays, the blond-haired girl was slightly but still noticeably shorter than her friend, but no less of her usual self.

 _Und das heißt_

Now wearing the Schwarzwaldspitze girls' school uniform, the blond-haired girl had also added a few accessories to her outfit by now as well. She had a black jacket resembling those worn by early-war _Luftwaffe_ ground crews that she left open along with a GwZF4-fach sniper scope on a string around her neck.

 _Erika_

Both she and her brunette friend were now entering the trials of high school together, but they did not separate at all from each other. Their friendship was simply too deep. It was somewhat amusing to others whenever they saw them together considering how playful and childish the blond-haired girl often was.

 _Dieses Mädel ist mein treues Schätzelein_

The two friends did not grow apart at all. In fact, they grew somewhat closer to each other during their time there. Although he had suspicions about it to himself for some time, the brunette German boy that was her close friend finally acknowledged to himself that he had fallen in love with the blond-haired German girl. But he could never admit it to her, for he was way too shy.

 _Und mein Glück_

Nevertheless, even if he couldn't admit his love to her, the brunette boy loved being in her company. The blond-haired girl was simply too friendly for him to stay away from, and her company always put him in a good mood.

 _Erika_

Because both were highly experienced with either tank or fighter combat, both were quickly accepted by Schwarzwaldspitze into their Arts of Warfare programs, that being the _Panzerkraft_ team for the boy, and the _Jägermeistern_ team for the girl. As a mark of said experience, both were immediately placed at the second-in-command spots for both teams upon their team commanders' recommendations.

 _Wenn das Heidekraut rot-lila blüht_

As such, the blond-haired German girl donned the _Jägermeistern_ uniform of Schwarzwaldspitze as she entered her personal Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6. Her uniform was a black skirt with red accents that had a red button-up shirt covered by a black _Luftwaffe_ trench coat with red accents that she always left open. The jacket itself proudly had the German black, red, and gold tricolor on a shoulder patch. The _Gustav_ had the German tropical camouflage with Schwarzwaldspitze's Iron Cross markings along with a black tulip on the nose and a white number 1 on the fuselage sides.

 _Singe ich zum Gruß ihr dieses Lied_

Such a number found itself appropriate as she quickly rose to the top of the _Jägermeistern_ kill count that season. Always watching her from the ground with a smile of admiration was her brunette friend in the commander's post of his _Tiger_ number 217. He was in Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerkraft_ uniform, which consisted of black pants, a red button-up shirt covered by a black jacket, and a small black hat with red accents that had the Iron Cross symbol on it. The black jacket also had the German black, red, and gold tricolor on a shoulder patch.

 _Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein_

That year was the 62nd running of the International Arts of Warfare Tournaments, and Schwarzwaldspitze was the favorite to win that year. They already had a continuing nine-year streak of straight victory to support their status. That year, the German school's first opponent was Anzio High School. Predictably, the Italians were annihilated. That match in particular was when the blond-haired German girl took down their entire team singlehandedly. So great was her skill.

 _Und das heißt_

The next fight for the Germans was against Saint Gloriana High School. That fight also ended in German victory over the British. The blond-haired German girl had taken down the enemy's marked Spitfire LF Mk IX from point-blank range and claimed victory for her team.

 _Erika_

For the semifinals, Schwarzwaldspitze was up against Saunders High School. The Americans had great numbers to match their opponents, but they were quickly defeated when the Germans launched an all-out assault on them right at the start with their _Gefechtsverband._ The blond-haired German girl in her Bf 109 G-6 fired off one quick burst and took down the enemy's marked P-38M in the middle of the enemy formation from point-blank range.

 _In mein'm Kämmerlein blüht auch ein Blümelein_

Later after the finals that year, the brunette-haired _Tiger_ ace that commanded _Tiger_ 217 was sitting in his room thinking over what went wrong in the fight against Pravda. He already knew what he did to lose the fight on the ground, but he had only heard rumors of what occurred in the air. He had heard that his friend was responsible for the loss in the air. He then heard a knock on his door, which snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked to it briefly before he made to get up and answer the door.

 _Und das heißt_

He opened the door to find his friend there, but she was in a state he had not at all expected. The blond-haired German ultra-ace wasn't looking like her usual happy self, and that confused the brunette boy greatly. He had a good idea of what made her upset, but he wanted to know for sure, so he invited her in. The girl accepted the invite and came in, but she didn't look very energetic at all. She still looked upset about what had occurred.

 _Erika_

She had ended up losing the aerial fight against Pravda when one of her comrades' Bf 109 F-4s was shot down at low altitude and crashed into the forest below. It then caught fire, so the blond-haired girl immediately chose to land and try to help out her comrade. But because she left her fighter, it was quickly destroyed by the Russians as it sat on the ground with nobody in it, and the fight ended in Russian victory as a result.

 _Schon beim Morgengrau'n sowie beim Dämmerschein_

It had been far too long for the brunette _Tiger_ ace to remember the last time he had seen his friend so upset. He couldn't stand seeing her sad at all, as it reminded him of a helpless girl. He knew that his friend wasn't at all like that, and so he closed with her determined to help her.

 _Schaut's mich an_

He had gently taken her chin and raised it so he could look her in the eye. Both stared into each other's eyes for a short time in silence. The boy could see just how upset his friend was as he stared into her mesmerizing blue eyes.

 _Erika_

The girl looked into her friend's light brown eyes in deep regret for her actions. She hadn't ever felt so guilty of doing what she felt was right than she did at that moment.

 _Und dann ist es mir als spräch' es laut_

The boy asked her what was wrong in a concerned manner. But the blond-haired German girl hesitated for a bit. She could not help but feel too ashamed to say anything to her friend, and she then came to a decision as to what she felt she had to do after her next action.

 _'Denkst du auch an deine kleine Braut?'_

She then leaned forward and pressed her lips against the brunette boy's as she took his face in hand and slightly rose up on her toes to kiss him as she closed her eyes. The brunette clearly did not expect such an action as he grew a blush and widened his eyes. The girl had also grown a blush from the natural embarrassment of her true feelings for her friend finally coming out. She had always liked him as a friend, but only recently did her feelings for him grow into something more.

 _In der Heimat weint um dich ein Mägdelein_

The girl broke away after a few seconds and ended up leaving no time for her friend to return the kiss. She immediately went to leave her friend's room. She received no response from the brunette boy as he stood there in shocked silence. As the blond-haired girl left, she was looking down with her eyes still closed, but even though her eyes were closed, some tears still managed to escape out of them.

 _Und das heißt_

The boy continued looking on at her for a bit until she grew out of sight. He sat there in utter confusion for a bit as he thought why his friend did such an action. This brunette-haired _Tiger_ ace of a boy was known by the name of Manfred Nishizumi. This German tank ace normally is not a very social person because of his natural shyness, but the girl he met almost a decade ago now had managed to change that for the better.

 _Erika_

The girl outside his room shed one last tear as she made her decision to leave behind everything she had come to know, and she walked away without ever looking back. She chose to leave behind her school, her friends, her country, her family, and even her best friend and now crush. Often nicknamed _Mädchen_ for her childish innocence, the name of this ace fighter pilot and joyful girl that held such an impact on the _Panzer_ ace's life was Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann.

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 _Jägermeistern, the sport where maidens can go to show their true worth to everyone around the world…_

A little later, a fifteen-year old Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann stood before the new school she chose to run away to as she looked on at it with anticipation to begin a new life. Erika herself was no longer a little girl in appearance. Now in Ooarai High School's girls uniform, she kept her black _Luftwaffe_ ground crew jacket that she loved to leave open and the GwZF4-fach sniper scope around her neck on a string, but she also had some black combat boots that she was somewhat distinct for, considering she was one of the few girls that wore such boots. She was just a bit shorter than average for a girl, and she had the typical curves and bust girls of her age had already developed. They weren't too special in comparison to other girls, but she still had them well developed in roughly average proportions to her body. Her blonde hair was still on the short side though, and it was styled into what she knew as a _Bubischnitt,_ or a bob to the English-speaking world.

 _I, one of the great-granddaughters of the world's greatest fighter ace, have chosen to forge my own way in this sport after things came to a head for me in the aftermath of a recent incident._

"Hey, girl! Wanna get some tea with us?" another girl asked Erika with a friendly smile. This girl was full of energy and spunk. She was clearly American if her attitude didn't lie about her. She had some mid-length blonde hair that reached to the upper part of her back along with a pair of hazel eyes. She had some slightly greater curves to her body than Erika, particularly her bust, but they weren't extremely out of proportion to her just slightly taller height. She also wore Ooarai's girls uniform. This American girl went by the name of Antonella Silva.

"Calm down, Antonella. I'm sure Erika doesn't want to be greeted so up-close on her first day," another girl spoke up from beside Antonella with a calmer smile. Overall, this girl was far calmer than her American friend. She had long black hair that reached the middle of her back with a pair of brown eyes. She was also taller, and had curves that were proportioned appropriately for such a body. She had a somewhat European appearance because of her family's origins from Prussia. She also wore Ooarai's girls uniform. This girl's well known as being a highly skilled archer, which is something that runs in her family. The skilled archer with Prussian roots can also be called Helma Benz.

 _Just as I thought that I had started a new life after coming to Ooarai High School and making some new friends…_

"Just make sure you pick _Jägermeistern. Tschüss!_ " another girl said to Erika later that day in a very carefree tone with a smile that held a certain cunningness to it. She was relatively short for a girl, but her confidence more than made up for the short height. Very clearly a Bavarian, this girl doesn't appear to be the working type. With long, light brown hair that reached the middle of her back and a pair of brown eyes, this girl for some reason had an eternal craving for jerky. She's not terribly busty, but she still has some curves. She's great friends with her counterpart in the student council, the overall President Kadotani, and is pretty close to him, such that it's rumored that she sometimes does dirty things with him in private. This carefree Bavarian girl only governs all of the girls in name, as her counterpart holds all of the true power, but she's still known as President Anna Novat.

With her were two more girls of the student council that both had their arms crossed as they held slightly intimidating looks. All three had the Ooarai girls' uniform on as well. It's a very long story as to why there are two groups of leaders for the single Ooarai High School, but suffice it to say that it's a leftover relic of how things were for Ooarai in the past.

The taller of the two was more distinctive for the thin glasses she wore. She had black hair that was relatively short, only reaching her shoulders, and a pair of deep brown eyes. She also has well-proportioned curves to her tall body. Quite the opposite of Anna, this Bavarian girl is much more strict, and she holds the appropriate look that says to not mess with her. She's certainly not someone to mess with, because she's also known to have an explosive temper. She's also the PR Manager for Anna, and she prides herself on coming up with the plans for the group, even if they're not always the greatest in others' eyes. This Bavarian girl can also be called Sieglinde Nikolaus.

The other girl there was also distinctively Bavarian. She is slightly bustier than other girls her height, but her curves remain in proportion to her average height. She has some mid-length light blonde hair that reaches a bit below her shoulders along with a pair of hazel eyes. This Bavarian girl holds the title of being the VP under Anna, but she's oddly the only one of the three girls that actually does any work. Outside of her current state, she is not someone who's generally mean to others. She's actually plenty caring, but she still follows Anna's plans, even if she may hold reservations about them. The Bavarian VP for the girls is also known as Christl Nardo.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Erika?" Manfred Nishizumi asked in disbelief after coming across his longtime friend and crush once again later that evening. He had coincidentally come to Ooarai as well, if his current Ooarai boys' uniform meant anything. Erika was stiff as a rock as she froze in shock of hearing her crush's voice again after she left him behind for what she now saw as her own selfish reasons. As she prepared herself to take some verbal abuse, she unexpectedly saw Manfred step closer to her without a hint of anger in him. Upon seeing him with a smile, she grew a great smile herself as she launched herself at him and gave him a massive hug. After the both of them had grown up over the last decade of knowing each other, Manfred was now noticeably taller than Erika, but he appeared rather average himself in height and build compared to other boys his age.

 _It seems that fate has willed me to take to the air once more…_

" _Mädchen!_ That was amazing, eh!" one girl congratulated Erika over a radio with great enthusiasm the next day. This girl also wore Ooarai's girls uniform. She held a distinctly Canadian appearance and had unique messy brown hair that reached a little below her shoulders plus two blue eyes. She also has the same curves like other girls her age have. A real avid aviation enthusiast, there's nothing about aircraft she doesn't know. She's also a big fan of Erika herself, having seen her on TV during the 62nd International Arts of Warfare Tournaments' finals fight. This highly knowledgeable aviation enthusiast from the great white north is known as Natalie McBraun.

XXXXXXXXXX

"How to use a winch? I learned just now," another girl answered Antonella's question to her in a monotonous manner as she sat in a FAMO halftrack's driver's seat with a manual for the heavy halftrack opened on her lap. She herself was a bit shorter than Erika, which meant she was noticeably shorter than average for a girl her age. She had some black hair that reached down to her upper back along with some very dark brown, almost black, eyes. Although not terribly busty, she does have some curves to her. She was able to figure out how to use the FAMO quickly, as she is by and far the smartest girl in the school. But contrasting that is her unwillingness to get up early. She has a bit of a valid reason for being so lazy, though, as she does have chronic fatigue. This smart yet lazy American girl can also be called Daisie Faul.

 _There are many veterans from around the world lined up for combat this year._

"Do you know this saying? 'For an Englishwoman, all is fair in love and war,'" a distinctly British girl spoke to Erika later as they greeted each other before a practice fight. She also held a cup of tea. This British girl hails from England and greatly loves her tea like her other countrymen. She herself had on Saint Gloriana High School's _Jägermeistern_ uniform, which consisted of a black skirt and a white button-up shirt covered by a brown leather pilot's jacket left undone. Said jacket had a British Union Jack on a shoulder patch. The girl herself had blonde hair neatly put into a braid that hung down to her upper back along with a pair of blue eyes. She was distinct for her small smile that also held a great amount of confidence. She was slightly taller than the average girl her age, and she held curves and a bust that were proportioned to her body. This English fighter ace is also known by the name of Lynnette.

Alongside her were two members of the ground crew for her Spitfire LF Mk IX. Both also held cups of tea and wore the same uniform as they held similar confident grins.

One was around the same height as Lynnette and had blonde hair as well, but this girl's entire hair hung down naturally to the middle of her back. She also had a pair of blue eyes along with a distinct Scottish appearance. She didn't have as large of a bust as Lynnette, but her curves were otherwise similar. Otherwise, this Scottish girl could also be called Dolores.

The other girl was shorter in height and had mid-length ginger hair that reached her upper back along with a pair of blue eyes. She held a distinct Northern Irish appearance, as well. Her shorter height meant smaller proportioned curves for her body. This girl also often ends up serving Lynnette a lot of times. This Northern Irish girl goes by the name of Delia.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So you're still doing _Jägermeistern,_ aren't you…" another girl began as she glanced at Erika from over her shoulder weeks later. It was just after the drawing for the 63rd International Arts of Warfare Tournaments, and Erika went with her friends to the Rafale Fighter Café. But two German girls had come by their table. As they finally started away, one of them had offered their comment.

"Aren't you?!" the German girl that had spoken previously turned around to bark at Erika. She had a look of anger on her face as she asked Erika her question. She herself was in one of Schwarzwaldspitze High School's girls school uniforms and had a similar height as Erika. Her appearance consisted of blonde hair that came down to the middle of her back along with a pair of blue eyes. She herself had a well-developed body from a training regiment she made herself to improve her abilities in combat. Such training had also given her a body many girls would kill for with its smooth and definitive curves and well-toned muscles. She has prior history with Erika as well, which dates back to when they both entered Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jägermeistern_ team. She considers Erika to be her one and only rival. This fiercely competitive German ace is also known as Hanna Jochen.

XXXXXXXXXX

"That's _Jägermeistern!_ If we forget that this isn't war, then the fighters will spit us out of them!" another American girl told Erika after Saunders High School was defeated by Ooarai. She was pointing at her with a wink as she smiled. This American girl had some burgundy hair that reached down to her upper back plus a pair of blue eyes. She herself was slightly taller in height than was average, but she had a rack that was slightly but noticeably larger in proportion than other girls her own height and age. She had on one of Saunders' _Jägermeistern_ uniforms, which consisted of a navy blue skirt and a white button-up shirt covered by a brown leather pilot's jacket. The jacket had a shoulder patch with the American Stars and Stripes. Always calm and friendly but with a great belief in fighting fair, this American girl can also be called Charlotte.

 _Even after struggling against violent attacks, we still strike back._

Later in the tournaments, a girl in a Fiat G.55 _Serie_ 1 sighed in defeat as she looked up at Erika's Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 that just shot her down, which resulted in Anzio High School falling to Ooarai. The Italian girl herself had some smooth black hair that was put into two pigtails. They were such that the hair in the pigtails was close to the top of her head, but never exceeded it, and they hung down until they ended just at her shoulder line. She also had a pair of brown eyes. She had on Anzio's _Jägermeistern_ uniform, which consisted of a white skirt and a white button-up shirt covered by a brown leather pilot's jacket left open. The jacket had the Italian tricolor on a shoulder patch. The Italian girl had a relatively average body, but considering she was Italian, she had a natural suntan that made her look stunning to many people. This Italian girl is Anzio's _Comandante,_ also known as Francesca.

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"See you, _Devochka!_ " a Russian girl said goodbye to Erika before the fight between Ooarai and Pravda High School. She held a confident grin that held a bit of a demeaning factor to it as well. She was average in height and had curves that were typical of someone her age and height. She had a bit of a smaller bust than average, though. She had blonde hair that came down to her upper back along with blue eyes. She wore Pravda's _Jägermeistern_ uniform, which consisted of a dark green skirt and a red button-up shirt that was covered by another dark green shirt. Covering up those shirts was a leather pilot's jacket of Soviet origin that was unzipped. Said jacket had the Russian tricolor on a shoulder patch. Well known for her great talent as a mechanic and her extreme devotion to the sport, this Russian ace is sometimes nicknamed 'Engineer,' but she's officially known by the name Aleksandra, often shortened to Sasha.

Standing beside her was another tall Russian beauty in the same uniform as hers, but this girl chose to keep the Soviet pilot's jacket zipped up. This one was noticeably taller than Sasha with mid-length black hair that reached her upper back along with a pair of blue eyes. She had appropriate proportions for her taller body, which made her bust size physically larger than Sasha's by a noticeable amount to stay in her body's proportions. This Russian girl is always by Sasha's side and is always calm in her demeanor. She's also a fantastic shot, as one of her nicknames, 'Cannoneer,' attests. Although not nearly as often, she's also sometimes referenced by the name Nudelmann, in reference to her great sharpshooting skills with the main gun of her fighter, which was made by a company called Nudelmann-Suranov. Her real name is Natasha.

XXXXXXXXXX

Weeks later, both Erika and Manfred stood together hand-in-hand before their former schoolmates and countrymen of Schwarzwaldspitze High School in the pre-match greetings between them and Ooarai. Across from them as the commanders of Schwarzwaldspitze were two people that were very familiar to the both of them, with 'familiar' being taken literally. Both of the pairs were staring at each other in silence, as nothing had to be said for all of them to understand each other at this moment. The two Schwarzwaldspitze commanders were not surprised to see the Ooarai commanders holding hands together, as they had previously predicted they would get together eventually.

The boy that was there was Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerkraft Kapitän._ In the same _Panzerkraft_ uniform that Manfred once wore, this boy looked extremely similar to him. The only major differences between their appearances were the other boy's darker brown hair color and similar dark brown eyes. He's slightly taller as well and has a more mature look to him, most obvious through his usual emotionless expression. Often claimed as being the world's greatest _Panzerkraft Kapitän,_ that claim is not without supporting evidence. This German _Panzer_ ace is full of skill. Manfred can attest to that claim as well, considering the two are brothers. The older brother of Manfred is known by the name of Michael Nishizumi.

The other girl there was Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jägermeistern Staffelkapitän,_ and Erika knew her better than anyone else did. This German girl had an extremely similar appearance to Erika, but she was different in having black hair styled similarly along with brown eyes. She has a more mature appearance to her, with her taller height and her slightly more developed curves along with a far more strict demeanor as her cold stare indicated. She also wore Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jägermeistern_ uniform, but she left the _Luftwaffe_ trench coat open. Perhaps most known for her skill, this German fighter ace is the only pilot that can match Erika fully in terms of skill, and as such, both of them stand as the top two _Jägermeistern_ aces in the world. Known and feared as the Black Demoness, this girl is also the older sister of Erika, and she's called Isabel-Justina Hartmann.

 _We all continue on so we can rescue our school from being decommissioned. And my boyfriend and I also hope to bring forth our way of fighting into the Arts of Warfare!_

" _Start!_ " Erika commanded with a serious demeanor only seen when she's in combat. She then pushed her plane's throttle forward and began the take-off roll in her Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4. Her _Kurfürst_ had the same black tulip pattern that both she and her sister preferred on their fighters, but this fighter of Erika's differed from her previous Schwarzwaldspitze model in having a late-war German camouflage meant for use over Europe along with Ooarai's unique _Balkenkreuzen_ as its markings along with a knife emblem on the tail. She also had on the Ooarai _Jägermeistern_ uniform, which consisted of a white skirt and a white button-up shirt covered by a black jacket heavily resembling Erika's. Erika's jacket was unique nowadays in having a knife stitched into its back. Following behind Erika were the rest of Ooarai's _Jagdwaffe_ as the fight against the mighty Schwarzwaldspitze began.

XXXXXXXXXX

Contents are subject to change between preview and final product. There is no guarantee that there will be a final product.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Dennis:_ Looks like the others are overdoing it, as per usual...

 _Erich:_ So, Franco, how can I help you?

 _Franco:_ Don't give me shit like that! When's _my_ turn?! Or did you forget that that summary said 'everyone?!' Even the higher ups have limited patience!

 _Erich:_ Well, you say that, but...

 _Arthur:_ Blimey, what an imposing claim... But anyway, back to the main idea, I do hope that everyone enjoys the newest extra, 'The British in the Queen's Room!'

 _Dennis:_ Please don't involve me in your rubbish...

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	50. Kapitel 13,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Dreizehn: Es ist ein schöner Tag für ein Datum!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Zuikaku_ one particular day, Erich and Miho were both in their apartment hard at work as the school's Arts of Warfare commanders. They were currently sorting out and doing some paperwork related to the team as they wore their normal school outfits, fit with their usual additions to them. This included Miho's gifted _Ritterkreuz_ that remained around her neck practically all of the time.

Erich took a look at a calendar set up on the table as both continued on with their work. They were both seated at the main table in the room. His eyes briefly widened ever so slightly as he took notice of what events were ahead for the Arts of Warfare programs. This was because there were no events scheduled for the coming weekend.

"Hey, _Miholein,_ " he got Miho's attention with as he turned over to her. Miho turned to him in response as she paused her own work. "You notice that there's nothing going on for the teams this weekend?"

Miho looked to the calendar at his words and found the same thing he did. "There's nothing planned…" she observed. She then turned back to Erich. "Why do you bring that up?" she asked with slight confusion. She really had no idea why her boyfriend was mentioning such a thing.

Erich smiled as he spoke up again. "Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to take advantage of that break and go see a movie with me this Sunday," he proposed to her.

Miho grew a blush on her face and widened her eyes as she processed Erich's proposal. ' _He's actually asking me out on a date?!_ ' she wondered in her own thoughts. She had wanted to go out on an actual date with him ever since they got together, but their busy schedules often meant they could not have such luxuries. She then grew an elated smile. "Oh, I'd _love_ to, _Bubi!_ " she responded without a single hint of the contrary.

Erich kept his calm smile as he replied, "That's great." He then got up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get away from this paperwork," he continued as he walked over to the door. "See you later!" he said as he left the apartment.

"Huh?" Miho wondered in utter confusion as she saw him just get up and leave like that. But the most likely reason for why he did hit her after she thought a bit. "Oh, he just wanted me to do his paperwork for him, didn't he?!" she grunted in exasperated frustration as she turned back to face the piles of paper on the table.

As she looked at the huge numbers of papers there, she grew a bit more of a resigned look and sighed in defeat. "I am _so_ going to get his lazy _Arsch_ for this," she said to herself as she unwillingly continued to do her own paperwork plus the work that was _supposed_ to be done by her boyfriend.

But as she continued doing the endless paperwork, she started growing another smile as she looked forward to the date that she now had with Erich. "But I'll get him _after_ our date," she corrected her previous vow to put her romantic desires first.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere as he walked along around the _Zuikaku,_ Erich got a message on his phone.

"I wonder if this is her chewing me out," he thought aloud as he pulled up his phone. But he raised his eyebrows in discovering it was _not_ from Miho.

Instead, the message was from Anton. It read, 'Hey _Bubi!_ You wanna come and have some fun with all of us? We're planning to hit the arcade.'

Erich thought over his request before he shrugged and sent off a reply. "Why not," he figured as he typed away. "I've probably been locked out of the apartment already anyways, so why not."

XXXXXXXXXX

That coming Sunday morning, Miho woke up in her bed from her slumber and sat up as she stretched herself out. She had worn only her desert pink undergarments to sleep. Oddly enough, Erich was already gone from the apartment they shared. For what reason was unknown to her. "Aah, this is going to be the best Sunday ever!" she remarked with an elated smile as she kept her eyes closed for the moment.

But she grew a bit of a start as she opened her eyes. She looked over to the alarm clock she had, which showed what time it was. Upon seeing the time, she then got up very quickly as she ran to get dressed. "But that being said, today's also my date with _Bubi,_ and I can't go while so unprepared!"

As she slid on her usual pajamas for the moment, she got her phone out and sent off a text to Saori. It read, 'I need you and the girls to help me get ready for my date with _Bubi!_ Please come quick!'

Miho got a response nearly instantly. Saori's message read, 'We'll be there yesterday!'

About a second later, she heard a knock on her door, and she looked to it with a bit of stunned confusion. "Well, that was almost impossibly fast," she remarked as she approached and opened it.

Outside the door were all of her friends, that being Saori, Hana, Yukari, and Mako, all in their casual clothing. All of them were bent over as they recovered their breaths for the time being.

"What is this I heard about a date?" Saori started as she caught her breath. She then fully caught her breath and rose. "Why haven't I heard about this yet?!"

"You _do_ realize that she's just going out with Erich for the day, right Saori?" Hana asked Saori as she rose from regaining her breath.

"Well, yeah," Saori responded back a bit awkwardly. "But it's just…"

"Well, anyway, what exactly are we here for?" Mako asked Miho. Her question was somewhat humorous given her ever-present monotone.

"Um… Well, you see… I kind of wanted your help with getting ready," Miho began with a nervous smile as she twirled one of the locks of her hair with her finger. "I _really_ want to surprise _Bubi_ by looking more outgoing and daring, and not like my usual shy self… So something like that maybe…?"

"Okey dokey, then!" Yukari answered as she came forth and set her bag down. She had brought along a few of her family's barbershop items in her bag to help. "I'll get you looking ready to knock his socks off!"

Miho turned to her in a bit of alarm upon seeing she had brought out some of her family's barbershop items. " _Please,_ no _Panzerhaarschnitt,_ Yukari!" she practically begged Yukari. She was still haunted by the time she had her hair styled in that way.

"Relax, I'm not gonna do that this time," Yukari dismissed as she brought out a comb and some spray. "Now just relax!" she suggested, and she then began to perform her magic on Miho's hair.

"We'll find an outfit for you, Miho!" Saori determined as she took the other girls into her closet to find a suitable outfit.

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time later, Miho was standing in front of a mirror with her friends behind her as they all beheld her new appearance.

Miho herself had her hair tidied up by Yukari into its normal state from its previous more bedridden state. Miho didn't have the chance to tidy it up herself earlier, so Yukari took care of it.

Her outfit was a light blue dress that reached close to her feet and was strapless. It was a bit frilly on the skirt portion, which made it look a bit wavy with the color and the way the frills were styled. She also had on some elegant heels for footwear, which featured a ruby red stone on top of the area her toes slipped into.

"I-Is this really me?" Miho wondered as she looked at herself in the mirror. She twirled herself around slowly to get a look at the rest of her outfit. She then grew a smile at her look. "This looks great!"

"We gave our best!" Saori informed with a smile of satisfaction as the others looked on at Miho.

"I didn't know she had an outfit like that here…" Hana noted to herself.

"But…" Miho began as she turned to face the girls. She had a small, shy smile as well. "I _do_ think this is too much. I mean, this I think would be better for something like a dance…"

"Told you," Mako bluntly stated to Saori. Saori grew a bit irritated by her comment.

"Well, don't worry about that, Lady Nishizumi!" Yukari spoke up with a determined grin as she raised her brush. "We'll find something that works!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Miho had herself another new look that she was inspecting in the mirror. Her hair wasn't changed, but she did have on a bit of make-up this time to give her face a bit of a glow.

This outfit was way out there by most people's standards. All that covered her upper body was a red tank top that stopped just below her rack and left her whole midriff exposed. The only thing covering up her lower body was a pair of very short denim shorts that were dark blue, which didn't leave much of her legs to the imagination. Rounding out that outfit was a pair of black high heels.

"So how about this?" Saori asked as the other four stood behind Miho.

"Absolutely not," Mako immediately voiced her disapproval in her typical monotone.

"I know that we're both already at 'that' stage, Saori, but…" Miho began with an awkward smile. She also had a blush at her current outfit. "We're only going on a date to the movies…"

"Ah, right," Saori replied with an awkward smile of her own as she rubbed her head. "I guess I got carried away…"

XXXXXXXXXX

And so it was back to the drawing board for getting Miho a suitable look.

"Um, you know girls…" Miho began as she held her new dress by the skirt portion.

Her current outfit was a white strapless dress that was shorter in its length. It only reached down to her knees this time. She also wore some glass slippers for footwear. Because her dress was strapless, her _Ritterkreuz_ around her neck appeared much more prominent with its contrast to the white of the dress and gave her a unique look. The make-up from before was also done away with.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, she got into another outfit.

"I'm really happy that you're trying this hard, but…" Miho tried as she looked at her new outfit.

This one was a black lacy dress of knee length that was decently frilly at the bottom. Her midriff was exposed, but there were laces that went across it that held her dress together. She also had a black headband over her hair with a black tulip on one end of it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Even later, she had gotten into yet another outfit. This one was a remaking of her Boko costume. It was sized to her proportions, but it was split down the middle in front, which revealed the short black dress underneath that greatly conformed to her curves. The legs of the costume were no longer present. Instead, some black tights covered them up.

"You _are_ aware that we're just going to see a movie, right?" Miho finally asked her friends as she turned to them.

"Jesus, this is needlessly complicated," Mako deadpanned as the other girls took pictures. "Let me do something."

XXXXXXXXXX

Afterwards, Miho stood in her casual outfit, which was her yellow dress with white sleeves. It was a bit different with her _Ritterkreuz_ joining the outfit as well.

"Huh?" Miho wondered in confusion as she looked at her outfit. "But isn't this just casual clothing?"

"With things like this, there's no point in going over-the-top," Mako opined as the other girls stood behind her. "So just be yourself. Erich will enjoy seeing you no matter your look, so there's no need to go overboard."

Miho processed her friend's words for a moment before she understood them, and she grew a smile at hearing them.

At that moment, there was also a knock on the door.

" _Guten Morgen,_ " Erich greeted as he opened the door from the outside.

"Oh, _Bubi?_ " Miho wondered upon seeing her lover. She hadn't seen him yet that morning, and she was a bit curious as to where he had gone.

"Hey there," Erich greeted as he leaned against the doorframe with his calm smile. "I know it's still a bit early, but I figured I could come and pick you up since everyone else gathered so quickly."

"Ah, no problem. I don't mind…" Miho began as she started over to Erich, but she stopped at comprehending the rest of the sentence. "Wait… What do you mean by everyone else?"

"Heyoooo!" Anton greeted the girls with a wave as he made his appearance alongside Erich.

"Good morning," Herz politely greeted from behind Anton.

"Hey there, eh!" Nathan greeted from beside Herz.

"I want sleep…" David voiced with a sleepy deadpan tone beside Anton. He looked as sleepy as he always does in the early morning. All of the boys were there in their more casual clothing.

"Well, it turns out that everyone else wanted to see this movie too," Erich informed. He then noticed the other girls behind Miho. "Oh, and you all can come too, if you want."

All of the girls looked on for about a second in silence. Miho then smiled her unique bright smile. "Is that so?" she asked. "Then let's all have fun together for the day!"

The other girls looked a bit lost for a second before they nodded in agreement at the sudden change in what they had expected.

XXXXXXXXXX

' _I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't spend the day with just Bubi, but the day ended up being a lot of fun anyways!_ ' Miho reflected to herself later that night as she entered her bed and came alongside Erich. Both were in what they usually wore to sleep those days, which was just their undergarments.

She stared at him in admiration for some time. She always loved staring at her boyfriend's body. While it wasn't too special compared to other boys their age, she just couldn't resist his.

' _Besides,_ ' Miho thought as she moved to straddle his waist and lay atop him. ' _I can always have whatever fun I want with him at night…_ ' She then leaned down to kiss him and begin her idea of 'fun' for yet another night.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	51. Kapitel 13,2,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Versagen zu wecken_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

During one evening aboard the _Zuikaku,_ all of Erich's and Miho's friends were hanging out with each other like usual. All were in their school outfits as they walked about the large carrier's top deck.

Erich took a casual look at the sunset, and he grew a thought upon seeing it. "Hey, does anyone know why David sleeps so much?" he wondered aloud.

Anton looked over to David. "Isn't it because he has chronic fatigue?" he wondered.

"Yes," David answered to confirm as he looked on ahead.

"Huh, well that answers that question then," Erich noted while he looked on at David. He then grew another related thought, and he looked over to Mako. "But what about Mako? Why does she always sleep?"

"I'll tell you why!" Saori began with a passion as she stepped ahead of everyone. She then faced them with a finger held up. "The reason why Mako oversleeps is because of her low blood pressure!"

"Yup," Mako confirmed with her typical monotone as if it was no big deal.

"Therefore, to wake her up without delay, we'll just have to get as much blood to her brain as possible!" Saori continued with her passionate tone. Why she was so passionate about the subject was because she was tired of seeing Mako always oversleep.

Both Erich and Miho could sense the passion Saori had at the moment, and Miho leaned over to Erich's ear with a bit of a concerned look as she saw Saori act the way she did. "Please make sure she doesn't go overboard," Miho whispered into his ear.

Erich nodded slightly in response as he looked back to her out of the corner of his eye. "Got it," he confirmed the objective he was just assigned.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Saori was already at Mako's place as she prepared to wake her up. But she was unaware that there was someone else who had followed her there.

Silently following after the noisier Saori into Mako's house was Erich. He was there to fulfill the order Miho had given him to make sure Saori didn't go overboard with trying to wake up Mako.

He followed Saori all the way to Mako's room, and he witnessed Saori walk straight up to Mako's bed. Erich stayed behind at the doorway.

"This'll clear her head and dispel her drowsiness for sure!" Saori claimed with a passion as she lifted a sleeping Mako off of her bed by the ankles. Saori held Mako there dangling upside down for some time.

' _Oh, boy, this can't be good,_ ' Erich thought as he saw Mako's face start turning red from the blood rushing to her head.

"Huh?" Saori wondered in confusion upon hearing Mako stay quiet. "Mako, are you still there?"

' _That's it, it's time to get into action,_ ' Erich thought as he saw Mako's eyes open. They were red now from the blood rush.

Erich then rushed forth to Mako from his place by the doorway and took her shoulders as he raised her upper body to sit up. "Mako, you alright?" he asked her as he propped her up by the shoulders.

Upon being turned back upright, Mako fell asleep again after her face returned to normal.

" _Bubi?_ " Saori asked in utter confusion mixed with surprise as she released Mako's ankles. She did not expect him to be there at all, and she was lost as to why he was there in the first place.

Erich looked to her in response. " _Please_ don't hold her like that again," he requested her with a more serious look. "You have _no_ idea what red-out feels like, so don't put her in that scenario if you know what's good for her."

"But she needs to wake up!" Saori stomped the floor with frustration evident on her face and in her action.

Erich rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I know," he agreed reluctantly. "But this isn't the way to do it." He then passed the sleeping Mako over to Saori. "Anyway, just get her dressed and let's get going. The others are waiting for us."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	52. Kapitel 13,2,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Lemruf_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

On another bright, sunny morning, Lemu was standing at the front gate to Ooarai High School as he looked out for the latecomers again. He soon found a regular latecomer approach the gate, and he grew a scowl as he saw him.

"Mr. Faul, you're late _again!_ " Lemu berated David as he came up to the gate.

"I blame mornings," David responded with his monotone.

"Uuuugh, you can't be serious," Lemu groaned. He was mighty frustrated with David, which was nothing out of the ordinary.

"I am being totally serious," David replied without breaking his blank look.

"Oh, whatever!" Lemu barked at him. He then extended his arm forth with an open hand as he pulled out his phone with his other hand. "Just give me your number so I can wake you up myself!"

"Huh?" David wondered in confused tiredness. "But I don't wanna…"

"Come on!" Lemu pressed on. "Just give it!"

David groaned, but he reluctantly complied and got his phone out. "Fine, fine," he relented as he brought up his phone number.

"Just one 'fine' is enough!" Lemu barked as he entered the number in his phonebook.

"Fiiiiine," David replied as he rolled his neck around.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, David was sleeping soundly in his bed as the sun began to rise. He was literally sleeping soundly, as he was snoring rather loudly.

Around sunrise, his phone also began to go off with its alarm-like ringtone. It was going off because Lemu was calling him, which was proven with his name coming up on the screen.

But David didn't even seem to stir at the sound as he continued sleeping on.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that morning, David had reached Lemu by the gate, and the English Public Morals Committee member was not looking pleased at all. In fact, he looked rather angry at seeing David late yet again.

"Why are you late?!" Lemu barked at David. "I called you, did I not?!"

"Yeah," David confirmed in his usual monotone. "But I guess I forgot to tell you that I'm too used to my ringtone, and that it doesn't affect me anymore as a result."

"Well change it to something else that _will_ work!" Lemu barked in extreme frustration as he clenched his fists.

"To be fair, I _am_ using an alarm ringtone," David coolly responded.

"Then use something else! Like my voice!" Lemu suggested. He was very near to losing it with David.

"Fine, fine, I'll do it later," David replied as he walked through the gate. "See you, Lemu."

"Don't call me that!" Lemu barked at him one last time.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	53. Kapitel 13,2,3

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier_**

 ** _Kapitel Drei: Wer es ist für_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Late one day in her place, Saori had just gotten into some sleepwear for the night.

"Jeez, what a day," she remarked as she flopped into her bed. She had flopped into a position where she leaned against her pillows while sitting up. "First, that whole mess with everyone teasing me about dieting again, and then some of the freshmen trying to stand up for me which led to a huge standoff amidst everyone else…"

She shook her head to clear the thoughts of what took place that day. "Nevermind, I think I need some time for myself now," she determined as she pulled out her pair of glasses. Saori then pulled out a girly magazine to read. She had a vast amount of these magazines available to her, which she loved to take in every single detail of in hopes of using them to gain some romance. But such things have not worked out for her as of yet.

As she read through the pages of said magazine, she was nodding and humming periodically as she saw things she thought were nice. "I'll have to make a note of _that_ one," she noted to herself as she continued reading.

Soon, she stopped and widened her eyes a bit as something caught her eye. "Oh, this dish looks pretty good!" she opined with a smile. "I should make it next time for everyone!"

She then brought her hands to her face as she grew a fantasizing look. "This'll make me even more popular!" she happily voiced her thoughts as she started to fantasize.

She was imagining herself _finally_ with a boyfriend. Who said boyfriend was couldn't be readily identified considering it was only a dream.

"Mmm, this is delicious, Saori," the 'boyfriend' complimented with a charming smile.

"Oh, you…" Saori responded bashfully out in the real world.

But soon enough, her dream 'boyfriend' ended up poofing into another boy she already knew very well.

"This is delicious," Erich complimented with his typical calm smile. He then held up his plate. "Seconds, please?"

"Nooo!" Saori cried out in the real world as she tried to dispel her dream. For some reason, she chose to do so physically as she tried shooing him away with her arms. "I made it for _my_ boyfriend, not you! Get out of here, _Bubi!_ "

" _Ach mein…_ " the dream Erich nonchalantly commented with his same smile as the real Saori continued trying to shoo him away.

Finally, Saori managed to dispel her vision, and she sighed in relief of the fact. "Man, even though I'd like to have someone like him for a boyfriend, he's just way too hungry of a person for me to keep up," Saori thought aloud as she lied back against her pillows. "I'll have to ask Miho how she manages to do it later."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	54. Kapitel 13,2,4

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Vier: Passende Handys**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

One day, Erich, Miho, and all of their friends were having a conversation with the entire student council. All were in their usual school outfits.

Soon enough, the phones of the student council members blipped, and they pulled them out to check what had occurred. It was nothing important, so they chose to pay their attention back to the conversation.

Herz, however, noticed something about their phones. "Wait, I just noticed your phones," he spoke up as he raised a hand slightly. "They all look the same."

"Well, that's because they _are_ the same," Anzu confirmed as the student council kept their phones out for the moment. Indeed, all of the student council had nearly identical Blackberry phones.

"Oh?" Hana wondered as she raised a hand to her mouth. "So you all have the same model smart phone?"

"That's right," Aprikose confirmed.

"Though the straps are different," Yuzu added in. All of the student council's phones had different straps, as Yuzu said. The straps the Bavarians used all had the same rolling shrike emblem put on the Fw 190 D-12's tail, but with different colors for the straps themselves. The Japanese girls' straps all had the same rolling turtle emblem used on their _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t), but again in different colors for the straps themselves.

"But since we didn't really know anyone that was tech savvy, we ended up having to teach each other how to use them," Anzu elaborated.

"It was mainly just Pfirsich, though," Aprikose inserted. "He's a bit more old-fashioned."

"Hey, that's not true!" Pfirsich balked at Aprikose's implications.

"I don't think you really have the right to say that, Aprikose," Erich replied to Aprikose's statement as well with his usual calm smile. "Considering all three of you are _Bayerisch._ I hope you're not dragging poor Anzu down that same road to the medieval."

" _Wie witzig von dir, Saupreiß,_ " Aprikose returned with a grin.

Erich briefly laughed before responding, " _Ich kanne deinen Dialekt verstehen nicht. Sprichst du hochdeutsch?_ "

Aprikose rolled his eyes, but he didn't take any offense to Erich's constant jabs. " _Kniabielser, elendiger,_ " he returned with a grin as he shook his head.

Both Miho and Anzu rolled their eyes upon hearing their guys start throwing jabs at each other. Miho already knew from her German upbringing about how Germans and Bavarians see each other, and Anzu had picked up on the same thing during the times she was hanging around the mix of Germans and Bavarians.

During the time the blond-haired German ultra-ace and Bavarian President were talking, Anton chose to place a phone call with a motivated and somewhat mischievous grin. He grew a bit of a dastardly idea after hearing that Pfirsich had trouble figuring out how to use a phone.

After Anton placed his call, Pfirsich's phone started ringing just after Aprikose and Erich finished their little chat.

"Oh, hey, it's your phone," Anzu stated the obvious as she held her arms behind her head.

"Ah, my phone?!" Pfirsich jumped upon hearing his phone go off. He then hastily tried getting it out. "Um… What do I…?" he went while trying to use his phone. The keyword was 'trying.' But he accidentally pressed the 'hold' button. "No, I put them on hold!" He then turned over to the other student council members. "What do I do, Zitrus-" he began, but he ended up pressing another button on his phone. "Ah, no, that's not… _Zefix,_ I was in a hurry!"

The others there were simply watching with either awkward smiles or smiles of amusement. Erich and Aprikose bumped fists with each other as they watched Pfirsich hopelessly try to figure out how to use his phone.

But immediately after, both of them were slapped upside the head by two particular girls. Miho slapped Erich while Anzu slapped Aprikose. As the two guys got the message and cut out their messing around, the two girls looked to each other and rolled their eyes with exasperated smiles. Both girls were plenty used to their boys being boys, so this instance was simply another day in the life for them.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	55. Kapitel 13,2,5

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Fünf: Projekt Bruder**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

One day in one of the small apartments within Ooarai City, Anton was paying a visit to a certain someone he knew pretty well.

"Ah, so that boy is _still_ falling asleep like he was dead?" David's brother asked as he sat at a table from across Anton's seat. He was in some clothing fit for staying at home, which included some sweatpants and a t-shirt. He then sighed. "Fine," he granted as he waved off. "It has to be done, then."

Anton nodded from across with a determined grin as he understood what David's brother meant. "Thanks a lot, Derrick," he responded as his plan came together. He was in his usual Ooarai school uniform.

David's brother, now known as Derrick Faul, shook his head. "Don't thank me until his ass is up from sleeping all the Goddamn time," he returned as both headed out.

XXXXXXXXXX

Anton Silva had chosen to take it upon himself in the name of Ooarai High School to develop a method that could get David Faul to stop sleeping so much.

So now, at around sunrise the next morning, Anton and Derrick quietly entered David's little house. Derrick had managed to stay quiet despite his need for a cane after getting attacked and injured many times in the past by the local Yakuza gangs, which said quite a bit for his determination.

The two managed to reach David's bedroom door without incident. They had scanned their path as they progressed through it to make sure no one else was there to compromise them.

"So tired…" they both heard David groan out sleepily within.

Anton and Derrick looked over to each other and nodded. Anton then got out a mask and slipped it on. The mask was of Derrick's face. His face was portrayed as being predatory in nature with a slant towards anger.

Anton and Derrick looked around the area one last time to make sure they weren't followed or being watched. Upon seeing it was clear, Anton gave the thumbs-up signal. Derrick responded by staying back behind him as Anton opened David's door with a lot of force, which slammed the door against the wall beside it.

"Where is that sleeping boy?!" Anton questioned with a tone that conveyed anger as he entered the room. He spoke in a voice that was extremely similar to Derrick's.

"Ah!" David shot up from his bed and to his feet on instinct from hearing the voice. He was so tired from the previous night that he was still in his school outfit. "Brother!" he cried out in terror upon seeing his 'brother' start approaching him.

"No! Please! I'm up! I'm up!" David cried out in a panic as he rushed off out of his room. As a consequence of his attitude, he was now fully awake.

"Is that boy sleeping again?!" Anton called out in Derrick's tone of voice as he came out of the room.

Anton then stopped at the doorway upon seeing that he didn't need to do anything more. David was quite clearly awake by now if the sound of the front door slamming shut was any indicator.

"I have to admit, that was a pretty good impersonation of me," Derrick commented from beside Anton with a satisfied grin. "I would've done exactly the same thing."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	56. Kapitel 13,2,6

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier_**

 ** _Kapitel Sechs: Feinschmecker-Schule_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Earlier when the 63rd running of the International Arts of Warfare Tournaments was still underway, all of the Ooarai Arts of Warfare members were getting briefed on their next opponent: Anzio High School.

"All right," Pfirsich began as he stood at the front with the student council. "The briefing on Anzio High School will now begin."

Pfirsich then gestured over to Momo, who was busy passing handouts to everyone. "Those handouts you're getting contain the data for all of Anzio's vehicles as well as their main members. We're going to take a look at all of them."

Pfirsich cued Zitrus over by the door to the auditorium they had temporarily acquired for their own use, and Zitrus cut the lights. At the same time, a projector flared to life and displayed the first page of the handout.

"First up, we'll take a look at their _Jägermeistern_ team's equipment," Pfirsich began. By now, he was reading through a script he put together for the briefing. He himself didn't know the coming information nearly as well as some of the others on the team, so he used their own thoughts on the subjects coming up.

The first page of the handout consisted of some detailed drawings and statistics of a Fiat G.55 _Serie_ 1.

"Their most powerful fighter is the Fiat G.55, or _Centauro._ Suffice it to say that it'll outrun and outclimb all of our fighters, and it has a very effective armament as well. Although there's only one of them, it is not to be taken lightly, as it'll most likely be flown by their ace."

The projector then clicked to the next page, which had drawings and stats for a Macchi C.202 _Serie_ IX.

"Another high-performance fighter they use is the Macchi C.202, or _Folgore._ To come up with a comparison, it is most similar in performance to _Messer-Ein,_ but its armament is a lot weaker. They have multiple of these, but their number is relatively few, so expect them to be handled by their more experienced pilots."

The projector then went onto the next page, which held technical drawings and performance statistics for a Fiat CR.42 _bis._

"Their most common fighter is the Fiat CR.42, or _Falco._ Only _Orkan-Drei_ is slower than it, but _Orkan-Drei_ can still outclimb it. Its armament is only devastating to something like _Orkan-Drei,_ so they are relatively easy opponents, but do not underestimate them. The _Falco_ is rightly considered one of the best biplanes of the war for a reason."

Everyone except for two people was taking notes during the briefing. The only two who weren't were the ones with by and far the most experience in the Arts of Warfare of those gathered. Miho Nishizumi and Erich-Dietrich Hartmann didn't have to take notes because they already knew this information via experience, so they simply sat back in their seats and relaxed for the moment. Erich chose to sleep while Miho stole glances at him.

"Now, we're going to look at the _Jägermeistern_ team's leaders."

The projector then clicked over to a picture of Franco, Anzio's _Comandante._

"First up is Franco, their _Staffelkapitän._ He most likely won't be in the heat of combat as the _Staffelkapitän,_ but be wary if you do come across him in the air. He is highly skilled, so if you encounter him, call for help. Do not try to take him on alone."

The projector flipped on over to a picture of both Furio and Fernando, the team's two lieutenants.

"Then we have Furio and Fernando, their _Staffelführer._ The two of them are the next highest skilled pilots that Anzio has after Franco. They will most likely serve to coordinate multiple different forces, so they'll be close to combat, but don't expect them to take part in the dirty work if they still have a force left. If they're not serving as parts of their chain of command, then exercise caution if you encounter them in combat."

The projector next went to show some drawings of a _Carro Armato_ P.40 along with some of its stats.

"Now, we'll move on to their _Panzerkraft_ equipment. First up is their most dangerous, the P.40. Its gun will penetrate all of our _Panzers_ with ease from average combat ranges. Its armor is also very hard for our _Panzers_ to penetrate. Only _Hippo_ Team can penetrate it with ease from any range. _Rabbit_ Team can penetrate it from close range, but not much further. Its speed is similar to that of _Anglerfish_ Team."

The projector then flipped over to some detailed drawings of a _Semovente_ M.41 _da_ 75/18 and some statistics of the self-propelled gun.

"Next is the _Semovente._ The gun on this will penetrate all of our _Panzers,_ but it uses HEAT shells to accomplish that because of the low-velocity gun. Its armor is also quite thick. Only _Hippo_ Team and _Rabbit_ Team can easily penetrate it from combat ranges. _Anglerfish_ Team and _Turtle_ Team can penetrate it from very close range, though. It's also a bit slow and has a fixed gun mount."

The projector then turned over to drawings of a _Carro Veloce_ CV-33 plus some stats for it.

"Their most common tank is the _Carro Veloce._ It presents no threat to our _Panzers,_ as it cannot penetrate any of them. It can also be taken out by all of our _Panzers_ with ease. It has decent mobility, so be sure to keep an eye out for them anyway. Anzio is more willing to try unconventional tactics than other schools."

The projector changed over to a picture of Anchovy, Anzio's _Duce._

"Next are the leaders for the _Panzerkraft_ Team. First up is Anchovy, their _Kapitän._ As I said earlier, Anzio is more willing to be unconventional in their tactics, and she's at the heart of those tactics. Remain vigilant while on the battlefield, both for her herself and for her tactics."

Next on the projector came a picture of both Carpaccio and Pepperoni.

"Then we have Carpaccio and Pepperoni, their _Vizekapitäner._ Most likely, they will be part of the chain of command for the _Panzerkraft_ team, so they will probably coordinate their own forces according to Anchovy's plan. Do not underestimate their abilities to fight, though. They can fight very viciously, but do not let yourselves be intimidated by them either."

Upon hearing the names of Anzio's _Panzerkraft_ leaders, the still sleeping Erich, for some reason, had subconsciously dreamed a setting of anchovies, carpaccio and pepperoni all served out on a big platter in front of him. He grew a grin in the real world at the vision of an extremely appetizing Italian meal.

"Mmm, sounds delicious!" he spoke up in his sleep.

Everyone in the auditorium had heard him, and they all grew silent as they turned to Erich with looks of utter confusion at the seemingly random comment. The blond-haired German ultra-ace, however, was oblivious to all of their looks because of his current sleeping state. Only one person received the impact from the stares, and that person was right beside him.

"What did I do in a past life to deserve this…" Miho muttered to herself as she curled up into a ball to hide her greatly blushed face. No doubt she was greatly embarrassed at all of the eyes on her and her best friend for one of the many odd things the blond-haired German ultra-ace often did.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	57. Kapitel 13,2,7

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Sieben: Skandal**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Back in the present on a random evening, Pfirsich and Yuzu were both walking through one of the stores aboard in their normal school outfits. Yuzu had herself a basket for getting some things.

"So we're supposedly staying overnight in the student council room again," Pfirsich recalled as he looked around nonchalantly at the shelves.

"We should load up on some delicious nabe!" Yuzu suggested with some enthusiasm.

Pfirsich tilted his head side-to-side as if debating within his head about the idea before he finally nodded. "Alright, sounds good," he agreed. "Let's get it."

And so Yuzu took one of the bags of curry nabe off the shelf. But she noticed Pfirsich looking to another food item on a nearby shelf. Said item was the only one of its kind there, as the area of the shelf behind it was cleared out. She noticed the food as being a pack of _Weißwurst,_ which were favorites among all of the Germans aboard, hence why there was a shortage of them at that moment.

Yuzu grew a delighted look as she rushed forth to the shelf. She also had taken Pfirsich's arm with her own as she dragged him over with her. "Oh!" she said in pleasant surprise at seeing the _Weißwurst_ pack. " _Anata,_ what's this you got here?"

"What?!" Pfirsich started from surprise at feeling Yuzu's arm around his own. He then grew a look that mixed anger and embarrassment as he looked over to her. "Hey, quit playing around!"

The two then heard a couple of gasps, and they turned to the source. Pfirsich did so with a more paranoid look. He's not someone who likes being embarrassed, even more so than others.

The source of the gasps was some of the freshmen standing together nearby. The current group only consisted of the Japanese freshmen girls that crewed the M3 Lee. All but Saki were looking at the two student council members. Saki was staring off into space again.

The other five had wide eyes at the sight of Pfirsich and Yuzu acting the way they were just now. Ayumi had a slight look of surprise mixed with a bit of disbelief. Azusa had her hands covering her mouth as she looked on in surprise. Both Aya and Yuuki grew knowing looks as the gears in their heads started turning to the current situation of Pfirsich and Yuzu. Karina was looking on in a similar way as Aya and Yuuki, but she didn't appear to understand the weight of the situation. Besides Saki and Karina, they all clearly understood the word Yuzu had said, hence their reactions.

Finally, Pfirsich reacted. "No, you're all wrong!" he barked out with his usual hard tone mixed with a bit of desperation. "This isn't what it looks like!" Yuzu simply looked on with an awkward smile.

The freshmen ignored him as they all descended into things typical of these girls: gossip.

"Gotta report this!" Aya spoke with a determined smile as her fingers started flying all over her phone from her unbelievably fast typing speed.

"Oh gosh…" Azusa said in sheer embarrassment of the situation. She had her eyes closed as her blush deepened.

Both Yuuki and Ayumi were whispering to each other. "Hey, did you see?" Ayumi began with a gossip-like grin.

"It's as expected…" Yuuki whispered back with a similar grin.

Karina just looked on at a loss as to what was going on. She didn't understand these things that much, unlike her other freshmen. Saki was still staring off into space, as was usual for her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere within their apartment, Erich and Miho were having yet another session of making love with each other on their bed. In other words, it was just another normal evening for them.

During their session, both of their phones on the table nearby went off from a new alert they both received. In response, they both paused their dirty deed and looked over to their phones.

"Jeez, why send us something _now,_ of all times?" Miho bemoaned from atop Erich. She looked a bit miffed by having her fun time get interrupted, but it was still noticeable despite her current state of sheer pleasure.

"You shouldn't be that way," Erich said to her as he reached over for his phone. It was a bit challenging, but even though she was fully lying atop him, Miho's cooperation with Erich enabled him reach over without them having to get off each other, a situation Miho wanted to keep for as long as possible. "It could very well be something very important," he continued as they both maneuvered their upper bodies back to their previous place in the bed.

Erich then pulled up the alert on his phone. It was Aya, who had chosen to message everyone about her and the other freshmen girls having seen Pfirsich and Yuzu together in a 'romantic' manner.

The blond-haired German ultra-ace lowered his eyebrows as he read the message, and he then rolled his eyes after finishing. "Or _not,_ " he revised his previous statement. He locked his phone and then let it rest nearby. "Alright, then," he began as he took Miho's hips in hand once more. "You still want to go on all night like you wanted earlier?"

Miho grew a smile that indicated both her current levels of pleasure and her agreement with Erich's question. "Yeah," she verbally confirmed in a voice that betrayed her breathlessness from her current pleasure.

XXXXXXXXXX

Up at the student council's room on the bridge, only Anzu and Aprikose were present at the moment. The two were currently having a make-out session with each other on one of the large office chairs. Both were plenty small enough to fit on the chair at the same time. The Bavarian boy was sitting in the chair while the Japanese girl had straddled herself atop his lap.

Soon enough, both of their phones went off. Their phones were resting on the desk ahead of them. Their current area was in one of the corners of the room. Both halted their current deed momentarily as they looked over to their phones. After a second, they reached over to them and brought up the alerts they received.

Both started chuckling mischievously with faces to match as they read through the message Aya sent out to everyone. "Looks like we've got some more ammunition to use against him," Anzu observed.

"I swear, Pfirsich is so easy to embarrass that it's just funny now," Aprikose remarked as both set their phones back on the desk. They then both resumed their previous activity and continued to make out with each other.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere on a random football, or soccer, field, the freshmen boys that utilized the F4F were sitting on a bench recovering from their latest three-on-three match against each other.

As they drank some water to recover, all of their phones went off with alerts, and they all got them out in response to look at what they were sent. Matthias found out first. He found the message to be one where Aya and the other girls claimed to have seen Pfirsich and Yuzu acting in a 'romantic' manner.

Matthias just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Remind me, why are we friends with these girls again?" he asked to everyone.

"Because we have no one else that we can be friends with?" Mesut responded.

"Because we choose to put up with their antics?" Erik guessed.

"I always thought it was because we got teamed up with each other the most," Christoph opined.

"I figured it was because everyone else sees us as being the same as them," Julius spoke up.

Bastian in the meanwhile stared off into space again as he remained silent.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	58. Kapitel 13,2,8

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Acht: Aber ich bin ein Richter**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Earlier during the 63rd International High School Arts of Warfare Tournaments, all eyes for the sport were watching the skies above Bad Segeburg with anxiety, whether it be with their own eyes or via the Leopold broadcasting the fight between Ooarai High School and Schwarzwaldspitze High School.

Why they were so anxious was because Erich-Dietrich Hartmann and Alfred-Joachim Hartmann had both been in the midst of a showdown against each other, and in their most recent head-on they had both unleashed bursts at each other that connected. A large cloud of black dust had formed behind them from the debris and other fluids that both the Bf 109 K-4 and Bf 109 G-6 were trailing. Such a cloud made it impossible to see who had their red smoke trail tripped, and so everyone down below was waiting for the debris trails to clear so as to find out who the victor was.

After many tense seconds, the debris trails finally cleared away. Everyone could see just one red smoke trail had deployed from the two 109s, and it was coming from the Bf 109 G-6.

" _Schwarzwaldspitze's marked man has been defeated!_ " Captain Muto Honda announced over the speakers. " _Therefore, Ooarai High School wins!_ "

The message was also displayed on the Leopold. It was done via sizing up the Ooarai insignia to full-screen size and superimposing the word 'win' over it. Upon either hearing or seeing that Ooarai was victorious, the entire crowd burst into cheers.

As the cheers continued on, one of the referees, or judges, was looking on at the sight of the crowd roaring in approval at Ooarai's victory. The judge himself had a German appearance with brown hair and blue eyes. He had on a black pair of pants and a black long-sleeve button-up shirt with a white superimposing of the word 'judge' on the back of his shirt. In other words, it was the normal judge uniform. Also on the shirt via two shoulder patches was the German black, red, and gold tricolor, something only German judges were allowed to wear. He looked like he was trying to restrain some proud emotion within him. He was successfully doing so, but it appeared he was only barely managing to.

' _No, I cannot cheer for them!_ ' he thought to himself in a berating manner. He then raised a hand slightly in the direction of the Ooarai crowd celebrating their victory, as if longing to cheer for them himself, but unable to. ' _Ah, those kids… It seems that ever since I first saw them way back when over at Ooarai City… that I've grown more attached to them… D'oh, I'm a failure as a judge! If someone saw me cheering for any team…_ '

Finally, the German judge had enough of trying to restrain himself. "I'm sorry, but I need to switch out…" he began as he turned around, but he trailed off upon seeing the other two judges doing things he wasn't expecting.

"Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah!" one of them cheered with his fist raised. This judge had an American appearance with some blonde hair and the American Stars and Stripes on the shoulders.

" _Uraaaaaaaaaa!_ " the other cheered similarly with his fist raised as well. This judge appeared distinctly Russian with dark black hair and the Russian tricolor on the shoulders.

"Are you kidding me now?!" the German judge balked upon seeing the other judges cheering. It was something he wanted to do so much, but had restrained himself from out of the belief that a judge should not be biased.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	59. Kapitel 13,2,9

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Neun: Stimmungen von Christoph**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Back in the present on a random morning, Erich and Matthias were talking with each other. Both were in their school outfits.

"So, to recap," Erich began. "You generally only shoot when your target is firmly in your sights and at relatively close range. For your aircraft, this is a bit different because of the wing-mounted guns. You'll have to shoot at a specific range to ensure all your rounds hit. We can experiment with different targeting distances for the guns later today."

"Okay," Matthias nodded in agreement. "That sounds good."

"Hey, Bastian! Morning!" they both heard Christoph's voice boom through the area. Curious, both Erich and Matthias turned to it in response. They saw Christoph energetically greeting Bastian with an energetic slap on the back. Bastian had no response besides a slight stumble forward. Both also had their school uniforms on.

"Huh, it seems like Chris is in a good mood," Erich observed as he looked on at the scene.

"Yeah," Matthias agreed as he looked on. "I think his favorite _Fußball_ team won last night."

"Ah, well that's _always_ cause for celebration, _nicht wahr?_ " Erich commented with a calm smile. He then turned to head off. "Well, I'll see you later today, then," he waved to Matthias as he left the area.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later on yet another random morning, Erich and Matthias were again having a talk with each other.

"You've got to remember that excessive maneuvering bleeds away your energy, and that you won't be able to get away from an enemy if you have low energy," Erich said to him. "In short, do not perform excessive maneuvers unless you have to in order to stay alive. When on the offensive, only maneuver to engage, not to follow."

"You want me to stick to energy tactics?" Matthias asked for confirmation.

"Yes," Erich nodded. "Your aircraft is too lethargic to allow good acceleration, meaning if you _do_ lose energy in it, it's very hard to get it back."

"Alright, I think I understand," Matthias responded as he nodded. He then noticed two more people walk close by, and he looked over to them in curiosity. Erich looked in curiosity, as well.

They both saw a very lifeless version of Christoph being led around by Bastian. Christoph looked much like he didn't have a soul, as if it was sucked out of him. He was swaying about a bit, too, which seemed to come from his lack of life at the moment.

"Hey, what's up with Chris?" Erich wondered with a raised eyebrow. "I've never seen him like that before."

"It looks like his favorite _Fußball_ team lost last night," Matthias observed with a look of sympathy for Christoph.

"Aaaaaah…" Erich raised his eyebrows in understanding. "Yeah, that's real hard to take. He has my sympathies."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	60. Kapitel 13,2,10

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Zehn: Seelenname**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

One day, all members of the _Anglerfish_ Team and _Messer-Ein_ were walking around the _Zuikaku's_ top deck as they chatted with each other. In other words, it was a relatively normal day for them.

"Hey, Yukari," Saori began as she faced Yukari. "What was that strange name Erwin gave you? Gude-… something or other…" She was somewhat curious about the name that she couldn't even fully say.

"Guderian!" Yukari corrected as she faced Saori with a smile. "It's my soul name." She then raised a hand behind her head in an awkward manner. "Though I think it's a bit presumptuous for me…"

"Oh? Why's that?" Saori wondered.

"Heinz Guderian was a famous German commander," Miho informed with a smile. "He held a great influence on tank development and tactics in Germany before the war, and because of that, he's best known as being the father of the _Blitzkrieg._ "

Anton raised his eyebrows upon hearing that. "Oh, speaking of soul names," he began as he turned to Nathan. "What was that name that Wolf gave you, Nathan? I remember it started with a G…"

"Ah, you mean Galland!" Nathan offered as he faced everyone. He then tilted his head side-to-side a bit. "I'm not sure if it's really appropriate for me, though, considering I don't fly or command, eh."

Anton looked at him for a bit before he turned to Erich. "Hey _Bubi,_ do you know who he was?" he asked in curiosity.

"Adolf Galland," Erich began with his usual calmness, "was a famous German fighter ace who ended up leading the _Jagdwaffe_ for most of the war. He also helped introduce a lot of new ideas into fighters and came up with some new tactics for them, as well. Many of those ideas and tactics were highly successful."

"Aaaaah…" Anton raised his eyebrows as he understood.

"Say," Saori began with a giddy attitude as she clapped her hands lightly, "if I were to get a soul name, perhaps it would be…" She then pointed to herself as she winked. "Cinderella!" she claimed as she struck her pose. "So am I right, or am I right?"

In response, everyone else stared at her with blank looks for some time. They did not see the idea of such a soul name for her as being anywhere close to appropriate. Saori, however, looked a bit lost at why everyone was looking at her in such a way. She thought the name was fantastic for her.

"… _Nö… Nur… Nö…_ " Erich finally responded as he slowly shook his head.

"Eh?" Saori reacted in confusion as she held her pose. She was both confused at the physical response and the verbal response. The physical response she could understand the meaning behind well enough. She was simply confused that it wasn't in agreement with her thoughts. She had no idea what the verbal response even meant because of her lack of knowledge of the German language, hence her confusion to it.

"That's not how these things work, Saori," Miho told her friend in a way and language she would hopefully understand. She still felt it would be a crapshoot anyway trying to get her friend to understand because of Saori's obsession with anything related to romance.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	61. Kapitel 13,2,11

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Elf: Im Sporn des Augenblicks**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Within Zürich, Switzerland, there was a multinational gathering for the best of the Arts of Warfare teams from around the world currently taking place. It was set up by the International Arts of Warfare Federations as a promotional stunt. It was a large-scale event, as it occupied the entire _Paradeplatze._

Such a place was picked out for two main reasons. First, it was simply convenient for the organizers. All of the Federations were headquartered within _Kanton Zürich,_ so it was easier for them to get there. Second, it was done to boast how successful the group of sports was, and the Federations figured that they could get maximum boastfulness using a place synonymous with wealth.

All of the _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ teams that had come were ones currently synonymous with their sports. Among them included the current poster child Ooarai High School, along with all of the main powerhouses of Schwarzwaldspitze High School, Pravda High School, Saunders High School, Saint Gloriana High School, and the not necessarily a powerhouse of Anzio High School, plus many others. All members there were in their combat outfits.

Right now, Anton was scouring through the plaza looking over people's heads trying to look for someone. "Man, it is _packed_ here," he remarked as he continued maneuvering through the large crowds there. "But at least it's not as packed as it is back in Japan."

Eventually, he spotted the top of some blonde hair, and below its height next to it he could see some light brown hair as well. He then raised his hand up to wave upon spotting who he was looking for. "Hey!" he called out as he headed toward his targets. " _Bubi!_ "

Nearby, Hans Jochen heard Anton call out for Erich, and he looked over there in response.

' _Hearing him get called Bubi again reminds me,_ ' he entered thought to himself as he looked on at Anton force his way through the crowd. ' _Why don't we ever call Alfred by his nickname?_ '

"Hey, Hans!" Alfred spoke up from nearby to grab Hans' attention. "Are you listening?"

" _Ach!_ " Hans reacted in surprise and hastily turned around to face Alfred. " _Jawohl, Schwarzer Teufel!_ "

Alfred remained silent at Hans' words as he stared at him with a blank look. It was a bit hard to differentiate his look from his usual iron face. Only someone who knew him well could tell the difference, hence why Hans' hands were shaking a bit now.

' _Oh, now I think I know why we don't call him that…_ ' Hans thought to himself as the Black Devil continued staring at him for his slip-up.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Alfred finally spoke up, and he then started to walk away.

Hans lowered his head as he tried to shake off the fear Alfred had struck into him from his staring.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, both Erich and Miho were amidst the large crowds as they tried to find people they were familiar with. Both held each other's hands to avoid getting separated.

"Wow, so many people here," Erich remarked nonchalantly as the two made their way through the crowd.

"It's bothering me a bit having so many people around," Miho opined as she held a bit of a pout. "I can't see above a lot of the people here."

Erich rolled his eyes in response. "And here I thought you were going to say you were bothered because you're too shy in public…" he thought aloud with a deadpan look.

"It's not _that,_ you _Dummkopf!_ " Miho retorted as she pushed Erich with her other arm. Erich grew a slight smirk at managing to agitate her at just the right level. "You _know_ I'm shorter than you are!"

"Not by much," Erich replied to her calmly. He looked around a bit through the crowd and soon managed to spot Katyusha in the distance riding on the shoulders of one of her comrades. This time, she chose to ride on Nudelmann's shoulders. Erich then got an idea upon seeing them, and he grew a grin at said idea. "But if you want, I can help you solve that problem of yours."

"Huh?" Miho raised an eyebrow in confusion as Erich knelt behind her. " _Häääää?!_ " she then reacted in surprise upon feeling herself get lifted up by the legs. She grabbed onto Erich's head on instinct to stabilize herself. "What's with this?!" she asked with surprise still in her voice.

"You said you couldn't see above the others," Erich elaborated with a calm smile. "So I propped you up so you could see."

Erich had chosen to lift her up onto his shoulders so she could piggyback on him. Because of the commotion Miho had made when she was lifted up, some people in the crowd turned to them in response.

Upon recognizing the light brunette-haired girl along with her blond-haired steed, they started to cheer for the two of them, " _Hurraaaaaaa!_ "

" _Hey! Es ist die Legenden!_ " some went as they pointed to the two.

" _Jaaaaaaa-haaaaaa!_ " some children cheered. Eventually, the entire crowd joined in the cheers as the two made their way through the crowds.

Miho blushed deeply at the amount of cheers they were getting, and she wrapped her arms around Erich's head as she rested her head atop his own. She was looking down to try and hide her greatly embarrassed face. " _Ich hasse dich so sehr jetzt…_ " she muttered.

Erich chuckled to himself upon hearing her. It was even funnier to him since she was also in her shy state. " _Ich liebe dich auch,_ " he returned as he continued moving through the crowd.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere at one of the banks surrounding the plaza, two more people were watching the events unfold from one of the higher balconies.

"Hey, you want to try that out sometime?" Dziubek Skalski asked to his girlfriend accompanying him. He was referring to the current sight of Miho and Erich piggybacking down below in the plaza proper.

Alice Shimada looked over to where her boyfriend was referring to, and she also found two of their best friends piggybacking down below. She then widened her eyes and grew a blush at what she thought Dziubek was implying. "No way!" she denied as she waved her hands back and forth. "Not in front of so many people!"

Dziubek looked over to her to find her in her shy and embarrassed state. "Well, I didn't mean in front of all those people," he replied as he gestured outside with a hand. "I meant some time where we can feel relatively secure, like back at campus."

Alice blinked in response as her blush faded momentarily, but it then flared up again as she grew embarrassed at misinterpreting Dziubek's words. "O-Oh…" she said with embarrassment in her voice. "I guess… Th-That's fine…"

While the two Polish leaders of Selection University's Arts of Warfare programs were off doing what they pleased, their lieutenants were busy doing the dirty work of playing their role for the whole university in the gathering down within the plaza. Though their role didn't quite mean so much at the moment because of the crowd's constant cheers for Erich and Miho.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	62. Kapitel 13,2,12

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwölf: Geheimnis der Kotatsu**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

On yet another evening aboard the _Zuikaku,_ the friends of Miho and Erich were all gathering at said pair's apartment again for another dinner together. Everyone there so far was in their usual school outfits. There was only one more person that hadn't arrived yet.

Miho herself was buzzing around the place getting everything set up for their guests, which included all of the food there. There was notably a decent amount of kotatsu amongst the food. She had learned how to make it from Saori earlier, and she now felt confident she could make it well. Everyone else simply stayed clear out of her way.

Erich was off doing something that would be considered normal for him. He was sleeping on the bed and letting Miho do all the work with setting everything up.

Soon enough, Miho heard a knock on the door. " _Bubi, kannst du das bekommen?_ " she asked as she held a dish of food in each hand.

" _Zwei mehr Minuten…_ " Erich muttered sleepily from the bed. He was sprawled out all over it with no particular way as to how he slept.

" _Zwei mehr Minuten, mein Arsch! Aufwach!_ " Miho commanded. She kicked him against the shoulder to emphasize her point as she walked past him. The kick wasn't nearly powerful enough to hurt him, but it was powerful enough to emphasize her point. She was able to balance herself upright during said kick without spilling over any of the food she was carrying, a remarkable feat.

" _Ugh… Fein, fein…_ " Erich relented and sleepily got up. He then headed over to the door in a similar manner.

He opened the door to find Saori standing there waiting in her school uniform. She also had her bag with her. Most distinctive about it was that it had a black cat's head on one side of it.

"Hey, I'm here, you two!" Saori greeted cheerful as always. She then shivered a bit as she brought her hands together. "Brr… It's a bit chilly outside, isn't it?"

By this time, Erich had fully woken up. "Oh, hey Saori," he greeted with a calm yet inviting smile. "Glad you could make it. Come on in," he beckoned as he waved his hand in a beckoning motion.

"Thanks!" Saori thanked and entered the apartment. She took off her shoes and left them at the entry way for the apartment just inside.

After she entered, Erich shut the door and headed back into the apartment's main area with Saori behind him. "Miho made some… kotatsu, if that's how you say it…?" he briefly wondered. He then waved off in dismissal. "Anyway, she made some of that for all of us."

"Oh, sounds great!" Saori remarked as she took a seat at the table. Said table had a tablecloth that decorated it for the moment, which extended down to the floor. "I'd love to try some of hers!"

At that same time, Erich also went back to his bed and flopped into it as he fell asleep again. Miho was walking by at the time with two more dishes in hand, and she just rolled her eyes in resignation at the sight of her boyfriend being his usual extreme level of laziness.

"Kotatsu, kotatsu…" Saori heard a voice speak up relatively quietly from nearby.

"Huh?" she wondered in confusion as she looked around. "Who was that?" Miho was nearby and had a raised eyebrow. She was evidently confused as well.

Saori then saw a hand shoot out from under the tablecloth and grab her ankle.

"Aaaaaaaaah!" she screamed in terror as she immediately pulled her foot back out of the hand's grasp. She had also stumbled back, and she ended up curling up on the ground with her ass facing up while holding her purse over her head as she started trembling.

Miho grew a look of alarm at the sight, and she set down the food on the table so she could go concern herself with Saori's current scared state of mind.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you earlier," Erich sleepily began from the bed as he raised a finger high up. "But David got here before you did."

As Erich implied, David popped out from under the table through the tablecloth to find Saori trembling still. "Oh," he realized with his normal emotionless look. "Sorry about that, Saori." Evidently, it was him who had grabbed her by the ankle and scared her shitless. Why he was under the tablecloth was most likely because he was using the darkness provided to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	63. Kapitel 13,2,13

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Dreizehn: Ooarai Weg der Künste der Kriegsführung**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

In the hangars of Ooarai High School, a dozen people were all gathered in a circle. They were the two groups of freshmen on the _Panzerkraft_ team and _Jägermeistern_ team respectively. All were in their combat uniforms.

"So, everyone understand?" Matthias began with a determined and motivated appearance. "It's our mission as the freshmen to continue on _Kapitän_ Nishizumi's and _Staffelkapitän_ Hartmann's way of the Arts of Warfare." He then put his hand in the center of the group. "So let's get on with it!"

Everyone else put their hands in the center as well, and they all broke apart as they mostly cheered, " _Hurra!_ " The only exceptions were the two silent ones, Saki and Bastian, who were staring off into space once more. Besides those two, the rest were highly motivated for their self-proclaimed mission.

XXXXXXXXXX

"The way the Hartmanns fly: stalk and ambush!"

Matthias was up in the air in his F4F during a practice session. As he watched the others fight amongst each other below, he soon found an enemy to take on, and he dove on the unsuspecting foe and acquired the necessary lead on them. When he was within about 500 meters was when he opened fire. He didn't wait until point-blank range, as his gun convergence was set at 400 meters, meaning his wing-mounted guns were most effective at or near the gun convergence distance.

"McBraun's way of loading!"

Down on the ground in the M15 CGMC, Julius and Bastian were loading the 37 mm M1A2 cannon. They had been practicing so they could reload it extremely quickly. Now in the midst of a ground combat practice session, they were able to get the time down to just two seconds for reloading the feed trays with new ammunition. This time, the ammunition consisted of the M59A1 shells better fit for armor piercing duty.

"Benz's way of precision accuracy!"

Such a quick time was needed now since they had just caught the I-Go out on its own in a clearing being aggressive once more. The Japanese tank was charging straight for the M15's side. Mesut aimed the guns towards it and let loose on the I-Go. The hail of fire from two M2 Brownings and a 37 mm cannon shredded the tank up, and its white flag deployed in response.

"Faul's way of evasive action!"

The M15 didn't have long to rejoice in victory as the Chi-Nu made a dramatic appearance quickly coming over the crest before coming to a stop and slowly turning its gun to the halftrack. Christoph booked it and maneuvered the SPAA to escape the 75 mm shell just fired at it. He then maneuvered to get the guns a line of sight on the tank's side, and Mesut turned the guns to aim at the armor that was thin enough to be pierced by them.

"Silva style commanding: direct and clear!"

Erik was standing up in the passenger seat up front through the nonexistent roof. He pointed to the Chi-Nu with an entire arm extended to it along with a finger as he loudly yet clearly ordered Mesut to fire. Heeding the order, Mesut dumped all the ammunition he could into the side of the Chi-Nu, which forced the Japanese tank to eventually succumb to the barrage of fire and pop its white flag.

"Nishizumi style: art of reconnaissance!"

Elsewhere on the ground, the M3 Lee was moving along through the forest used as Ooarai's practice grounds. Azusa then chose to stand atop the turret to get a better look at her surroundings, but she didn't notice a tree branch at her head level that she was currently approaching. Her head ended up going through the leaves of the branch, which caught her off-guard when it occurred.

"Akiyama's way of the jump!"

Later on, Karina jumped out of the M3 Lee with her body fully extended out. Why she jumped out was to perform reconnaissance. She then landed in a roll to cushion the fall.

"Isuzu's way of the diet!"

That evening, Ayumi was in her apartment eating dinner. Her servings for dinner were sized at a similar size as would be expected for Hana or Erich. She was clearly trying to force herself to eat the entire thing.

"Reizei's way of the sleep!"

When the night came along, Aya was peacefully sleeping on the bed within her apartment. When the sun came up, she did not wake up. She didn't wake up when the birds started chirping, either, and she had purposely turned off her alarm clock to boot.

"Takebe style: art of falling in love!"

Later when they were in the hangars, a few of the freshmen girls were gossiping in girlish manners. To add to the girlishness, they were also swinging their hips around in a similar girlish manner with their hands to their cheeks.

Watching from the hangar entrance was Miho, Erich, and their main group of friends. The girls were all staring at the freshmen girls with blank looks after seeing the freshmen girls imitate each of them. The boys didn't have much of a reaction to the scene.

"We have to do something about those freshmen," Miho finally spoke up after staring on for some time.

" _Na ja,_ " Erich shrugged. "There isn't really any harm in them doing these things, I think. I'll be honest, I'm somewhat proud of the boys for the amount of dedication they've recently exercised. The girls…" He tilted his head side to side. "Well, at least they're trying."

"They're trying _too_ much," Miho retorted. "They're all trying to be _just_ like us."

"Well, would you rather have to tutor them all individually?" Erich replied to her. "Let's face it. It's best to just let them learn their own way. They'll learn that on their own eventually."

Miho then turned to him as she grew a slight playful smirk. "Why is it you're so lazy yet so insightful at the same time?" she asked him.

"I don't know," Erich shrugged with a similar playful grin. "You tell me. You're the one that's put up with me for a decade so far."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	64. Kapitel 13,2,14

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Vierzehn: Es wird gemunkelt, dass...**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Somewhere aboard the _Zuikaku,_ Erich and Miho were having another large dinner with their friends. Most notable at the moment were the monstrous-size servings that Erich had for himself. They were even larger than Hana's were at the moment, and hers were already quite large by most people's standards.

Miho was looking at the sight of her boyfriend still devouring the impossibly large servings as if they were nothing. Such a sight was not at all unusual for her, having known him for at least a decade now, which is why she had a relatively normal smile at the sight.

"You know, I never understood why you have such a huge appetite, _Bubi,_ " she commented as she looked on. "You have any idea?"

Erich looked up from his meal to answer, "Not a clue." He was already finished with at least half of it.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Anton began as he stopped eating for a moment. He then raised a finger to begin. "There was this one time at a restaurant…"

XXXXXXXXXX

And so Anton began to tell everyone a short tale from some time earlier.

He and the other boys were all out eating at a restaurant. All were currently looking through the menus as they sat at a booth together. There were some appetizers at the table already for them to get started on.

Soon enough, a waitress came by. "So are you all ready to order?" she kindly asked the five of them.

"Yeah," Anton answered as he looked up from his menu. "I'll take one of the smorgasbords with a Coke."

"Certainl-" the waitress began, but she stopped with some widened eyes at seeing Erich sitting at the table as well. She soon recovered and wrote down the order in her little book. "Um… Excuse me for a moment, but I need to inform one of the chefs of something that just came up," she spoke up with a bit of an anxious smile as she backed away from the table.

Some of the others were looking at her walk off with haste in a bit of confusion. "Well, I wonder what that was about," Anton remarked. He then turned to Erich, who wasn't paying a lick of attention to the waitress like the others. Instead, he had started downing a liter glass of beer in one big gulp. "Well damn, _Bubi._ You had enough beer yet?" Anton said to him with some incredulity on his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

At the kitchen, the waitress that had come to the _Messer_ table was speaking with one of the chefs.

"I swear I'm not messing with you!" she began with a somewhat panicked look. "He's _really_ here!" She emphasized her statement by pointing out to the restaurant area itself, specifically towards the Messer table.

The chef looked a bit skeptic, and so he went to one of the walls and pulled out a clipboard from a small cubby of sorts. Said clipboard had a picture of Erich on it along with a height measurement at the top of his head plus some notes below. He was apparently 168 cm tall, or 5 feet 6 inches, as the dashes seemed to indicate. Also noted about him was that he was a stereotypical German in appearance. In other words, that he had blonde hair and blue eyes. Other notes were his slightly shorter height compared to the average plus his distinctive clothing, which included his jacket and sniper scope. The entire sheet was labeled with a 'Special Attention Required' moniker at the top.

The chef looked from the sheet over to where the waitress was pointing a few times before he grew a similar panicked look as he started sweating. "There's no mistaking it…" he observed as he started to shake ever so slightly. "That's him!" He then looked to the waitress. "Give me some help with wheeling the food out when it's done!"

"Yes!" she nodded affirmative.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the _Messer_ table was waiting around for their food to come to them. At this time, Erich had finished off all the initial appetizers handed to the group along with his liter glass of beer.

After some time, Anton spotted a food cart being rolled in their direction by a chef and the waitress that had served them all. "Oh, boy," he observed as he rolled his eyes. "Looks like _Bubi's_ food is here."

The food cart was loaded up entirely with food. There was no more room to fit anything else. Most noticeable was that there was one of every item on the menu aboard the cart. Along with the food cart, the waitress also had another liter glass of beer on one of those plates used to deliver food.

"Please let us off with just this!" the chef begged as he dropped down to his knees. The waitress behind had a similar begging look to her, but she was still standing up. "There's no charge to this! Please, I've got an elderly mother and young children at home!"

"Hey, hey," Erich tried to get the chef's attention. "It's fine, I can pay for it."

As they all watched the scene, all four of the guys put a hand to their faces and sighed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"And that's what happened," Anton ended the tale in the present.

"So it was a matter of life or death, huh…?" Miho began with an awkward smile.

"Looks like it was," Erich nonchalantly commented as he ate the rest of his food. "But their food was delicious, I have to admit. And they actually had some good _Bier,_ too."

The other girls there besides Miho were by now looking at Erich with a look of sheer incredulity upon hearing the tale.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	65. Kapitel 13,2,15

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Fünfzehn: Ooarai der Toten**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Yet another day was passing by aboard the _Zuikaku,_ and it was relatively normal for the most part. Miho, Erich, and all of their friends were walking around the top deck with each other as they all chatted about various things.

"Hey, I saw this zombie movie last night, and I was wondering-" Anton began.

"You did?" Saori interrupted as she faced Anton. "Which one? 'Cause I was planning on seeing one last night, but I got distracted with other things."

Anton looked back towards her as he entered thought. "… I can't remember the name, but I think it had something to do with the supernatural…?" he thought aloud. He then shook his head to clear it and turned back to the others. "Anyway, that movie gave me an idea: if this school ship was attacked by zombies, what would you all do?"

Most everyone else looked a bit confused at Anton's question. The exceptions were David and Mako. Both of them gasped in shock as they immediately started shaking in fear of the thought of zombies coming to attack the ship.

Finally, Yukari spoke up with a fist clenched and a determined grin, "I'd barricade myself in a shopping mall! There, I'd put my daily survival training skills to the test!"

Both David and Mako had in the meantime clung on to each other as they continued to shake in fear. "Please, I don't even want to think about anything so super scary," Mako quivered. Both Anton and Saori looked to each other and rolled their eyes with grins at their two friends.

"Oh, that's easy, eh!" Nathan spoke up with a confident grin. "Just take the ship up north into the Arctic, then blast the A/C around the ship and watch 'em all freeze, eh!"

"It's regrettable," Hana began with a hand to her mouth. "But as a zombie, it seems like I'd eat more than others…"

"That's all that concerns you?!" Anton asked in wonder. While Hana was a big eater, he hadn't thought it was a huge part of her, perhaps because he often compared her appetite to Erich's superior appetite.

"Seems like it'd be easy for me to get some of them," Herz remarked as he brought a finger to his chin in thought. "An arrow to the head will take anyone out, including those undead things. Though it may be necessary to find a way to get some more power behind the arrows..."

"Well, I would say to fly away to somewhere safe, but let's assume that that's _not_ an option," Erich began. He and Miho had grown their commander personas as they thought up a plan to take on any zombies that may come aboard.

"Our best bet is most likely with the _Panzers,_ but we'd have to stay mobile with them to avoid getting overrun. So… perhaps strafing them with machine gun fire is an option," Miho proposed to their plan.

"Yes, but conserving ammunition will be vital, so we'll have to get good with aiming at the head," Erich replied and added on to her idea.

" _Ja, ja,_ " Miho nodded in agreement. "Then, if we could get some _Sprenggranaten…_ "

" _Ja._ A _Flammenwerfer_ would be nice to have, as well," Erich suggested.

" _Auf jeden Fall,_ " Miho nodded in agreement. "But hopefully they're the typical zombies. All that would have to go out the window if they're the more mutant freak kinds."

"Well, in that case…" Erich entered thought. "… We could always try something akin to that of a _polnischer Abgang._ "

" _Na ja…_ " Miho tilted her head side to side in thought. "… Theoretically, yes. But that would be dependent on a lot of factors that we couldn't possibly predict ahead of time."

Meanwhile, the other eight were looking on at the two Germans in extreme wonder as they sweated a bit at the current scenario. "Damn, those Germans prepare for _everything,_ don't they?!" Anton remarked with his eyes wide in wonder at his two friends already coming up with a plan of operations for them.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**

 _ **Also, if more zombies action is desired, the author recommends taking a look at the story "Girls Dead Rise" by**_ **SeekerMeeker.**


	66. Kapitel 13,2,16

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier_**

 ** _Kapitel Sechzehn: Schulschiff Geheimnis_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

During yet another day aboard the _Zuikaku,_ Aprikose and Anzu were having a walk around the ship together. Both were in their school uniforms.

"I'm not sure I fully understand that idea," Aprikose answered Anzu's question. He then grew a slight smirk. "It sounds to me like you've got some mental issues if that's what you came up with."

"But doesn't it sound great, though?" Anzu responded with a cheerful smile as she slapped Aprikose on the back, hard. The Bavarian stumbled forth a bit at the slap. "The idea of a ship this size having giant legs at the bottom propelling it via swimming is awesome! Just think of all that you could do with that! You wouldn't even have to get off upon reaching land! Just ride the ship while it walks across the land!"

Aprikose rolled his eyes as Anzu went on with her idea. "Man, I knew the Japanese had crazy ideas for ships way back when," he muttered. "But I didn't know that they were _this_ crazy."

The two soon spotted Karina walking nearby. Anzu grew a predatory grin as she thought of a possible idea to try. Aprikose saw her toothy grin and just rolled his eyes at the idea he could already predict.

"Hey, Karina," Anzu began as she approached with her same grin. Karina stopped and paid her attention to the Japanese school President. "Do you know how the _Zuikaku_ moves around?"

"Nope!" Karina shook her head with an oblivious smile. "None whatsoever!"

"Well, it moves around…" Anzu began. She then dramatically raised her hands up. At the same time, the large ship started gaining speed through the water, and large splashing sounds could be heard. "… Like this!"

The ship was now going faster than normal because of two large human legs at the bottom of the center part of the hull that propelled the ship via swimming.

By this time, the _Zuikaku_ was also approaching land. As it grew closer to land, the ship started coming up out of the water as the large legs on the bottom stood up straight and walked along the seafloor. The legs themselves ended up creating large waves from the walking motions. Water rushed down the legs and dripped from the bottom of the ship's hull as it came out of the water. The legs then gingerly stepped over the city on the coast ahead and continued on into the countryside. Some puddles developed from the water as it dripped into the city proper.

"Even when it goes inland," Anzu began from the top deck. "You can still ride it!" She had to speak up quite a bit to be heard over the extremely deep and loud stomping sounds of the legs' feet hitting the ground with tremendous force.

XXXXXXXXXX

At her place at night, Karina abruptly woke up in her pajamas. She sat up and looked around briefly before she came to a realization. "It was just a dream, huh?" she figured. "Well, that's too bad…"

Indeed, she had dreamed up the entire scenario of how she thought the ship moved around.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	67. Kapitel 13,2,17

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Siebzehn: Versteckte Fibel**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

For the time being, both Miho and Erich were talking with both Aya and Karina after the two freshmen came up to them full of energy for some reason.

"Hey, did you guys know?!" Aya began with an energetic look to her. "There are rumors floating around that the JSDF has a manual for when a _kaiju_ or a UFO attacks!"

"Does Germany have one, too?!" Karina asked. She was also full of energy.

Both of the two German commanders were looking on at the two Japanese freshmen with somewhat awkward looks. Erich had a slight awkward smile while Miho was laughing lightly and awkwardly at what the freshmen were asking them.

"… _Kaiju?_ " Erich leaned over to ask Miho quietly. He didn't understand Japanese at all, which is why he chose to ask Miho.

"I believe it's something like one of those giant monsters," Miho provided at a similar quiet level. Unlike her lifelong friend, Miho knew enough Japanese to at least get around Ooarai, which is why Erich asked her what the word meant.

"Aaaah…" Erich raised his eyebrows in enlightenment. He then looked back to the freshmen that had asked them questions. "But seriously girls, there's no way something like that will happen." He waved a hand around in a manner implying the ridiculousness of such a scenario.

"Also, it's not strictly true that the JSDF has something like that, either," Miho debunked the rumor with a slight smile. She also had a hand up that she waved in a bit of a dismissive manner.

"Plus, in the Arts of Warfare, there are no opportunities at all to fight any of those monsters," Erich continued on with trying to dissuade the girls. "UFOs, I don't think you'll run into those at all, either."

But the two Germans' dissuasion had the unintended effect of upsetting Aya and Karina. Both of them grew rather gloomy and dejected looks as they slumped their shoulders.

Erich and Miho immediately felt regret for making them upset with their attempts at dissuasion, so they quickly thought of something to turn their frowns upside down.

"But that's what they _want_ you to think," Erich began as he leaned forward a bit with a finger raised. He held a conspiring grin at the moment. The two freshmen grew out of their looks of dejection for the moment as they grew intrigued by Erich. "You should know that UFOs were created in Germany by the Nazi Party. They were super secret, so nobody knows about them. Now what we're about to tell you is part of a top secret _Bundeswehr_ strategy for use against those Nazi UFOs and those monsters, so you can't go talking about this to _anyone._ Understood?"

Both of the freshmen then nodded as they grew enthusiastic grins.

"Good," Erich nodded in satisfaction. He then turned to Miho. "Miho, you mind leading off with the recommended tactics against monsters?"

"Um…" Miho began as she grew a bit of an awkward smile. She then raised a finger up a bit. "Well, you shouldn't do things like shoot them when they're lined up in rows horizontally. You should shoot at them when they're all lined up in columns one behind the other to conserve ammunition."

"And to start off with things not related to direct combat," Erich continued, "you're gonna want to look for things like eggs, whether they're there or not. More than likely, those will be the reason for any monster attack, what with the monsters seeing their eggs get mishandled or otherwise away from them in human hands. And for the UFOs, be sure that you don't draw their attention until you can actually get a shot on them."

"Otherwise they'll run away and never be seen again, and you'll forever lose the opportunity to take them out," Miho elaborated.

The two freshmen girls were greatly absorbed into the so-called 'lecture' of their two upperclassmen. They were leaning forward and not breaking eye contact with either of them as they took in every little detail.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	68. Kapitel 13,2,18

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Achtzehn: Überleben**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

On yet another random day aboard the _Zuikaku,_ all of the members for Ooarai's Arts of Warfare programs were out on the tank training grounds, which were within the forest aboard. Most of the members there were in combat outfits more commonly seen being worn by modern day infantry. The outfits themselves had a bit of a commando look to them.

There was a choice for one of two general outfits. One was a _Flecktarn_ -camouflaged outfit fit with a vest that wasn't camouflaged which held various combat equipment within the pouches. These outfits also generally had a bandana around the neck. The second outfit was generally the same as the first, except it was all black instead of camouflaged and the vests were not present. These outfits had the pouches integrated with the top jacket-like garment. These outfits did not have the bandanas. All outfits did include some goggles of varying styles depending on the person.

"Now then," Aprikose began as he held everyone's attention. "We've all brought some _Infanteriekampf_ stuff so we could have a survival fight!" He ended by using his left hand to cycle the bolt of the firearm he held with his right hand by the pistol grip. His chosen firearm was a Heckler und Koch _Gewehr,_ the G36A2. He was wearing the _Flecktarn_ outfit.

Everyone began to cheer at the announcement as they also raised their fists in approval. They seemed to be eager to get on with the fighting. But there were eight specific people, all in the same clique, that weren't there at the moment.

"Hey, this is so we can learn!" Pfirsich announced to try and quell down the cheers. He was wearing the all black outfit, and he wielded an FN SCAR-H that he cycled the bolt on to ready it for fire. "Don't lose your focus!"

"Anyway," Anzu continued as she drew back the charging handle on her M4A1 carbine with her left hand. She had the _Flecktarn_ outfit on as well. "This'll be done with squads. All the squads will be the same as the teams we're in for the Arts of Warfare. Last squad to have a member left wins!"

All of the other student council members were with each other. Yuzu and Zitrus also had the _Flecktarn_ outfits on, while Momo had the all black outfit. Momo had herself an FN P90 that she pulled the charging handle on in preparation. Yuzu and Zitrus drew back the charging handle on their different models of the Steyr _Armee Universal Gewehr._ Zitrus had the AUG A1 model, and Yuzu had the AUG A3 model. The differences were that the scope and foregrip on Zitrus' model were integral to the weapon, while Yuzu had used the Picatinny rails on her model to attach the same attachments.

"I'm raring to go, eh!" Nathan claimed with enthusiasm as he rotated the cocking handle on his weapon clockwise to chamber a round. Such an unusual process was necessary, as he had an extremely unique Heckler und Koch _Gewehr,_ the G11. He was around his friends for the moment. All wore the all black outfits with two exceptions.

"Witness my military geekitude in action!" Yukari similarly proclaimed with enthusiasm as she slammed the cocking handle down on her Heckler und Koch _Maschinenpistole,_ the MP5A3.

"I'm not really good at stuff like this…" Miho shyly said with a similar smile as she drew back the slide of her Mauser M712 _Schnellfeuer._

" _Sichern und laden,_ " Erich calmly said to the whole group with a smile he drew back the charging handle on his _Sturmgewehr_ 44.

With Saori, she was having a noticeably hard time keeping her gun up without getting tired. Her weapon of choice was an IWI TAR-21.

Nearby, Anton had no difficulties keeping his weapon up, which was somewhat remarkable considering his weapon of choice was an M240B. He was for now casually inspecting it.

The two exceptions to the all black outfits were further back from the others. Hana and Herz both chose to wear the _Flecktarn_ outfits, but their outfits were further modified into ghillie suits. It was fitting since both of them were armed with precision rifles. Hana had herself an Accuracy International AW that she cycled the bolt on to chamber a round, while Herz had the bigger and badder Barrett M82A1 that he was currently loading a magazine into. He chose to do it via holding the rifle up by the trigger grip so the barrel end pointed straight up, which emphasized the weapon's sheer size, and he loaded the magazine in while the rifle was pointed up.

Nearby, Noriko grew a rather alarmed look upon hearing the sound of Herz cycling the large bolt of the Light Fifty, clearly in dread of its extreme power. She chose to wear an all black outfit, as did the rest of the sports players with her. All of the volleyball girls wielded Uzis while the badminton boys wielded PPSh-41s fitted with the 71 round drum mag.

The freshmen chose to wear the _Flecktarn_ outfits, and Yuuki was currently trying to pull off a girly pose. "At last I can do my army look…" she remarked in satisfaction. All of the freshmen girls wielded the Beretta M9, as they weren't confident enough to wield anything more. The freshmen boys were more confident as they all wielded a classic _Maschinenpistole,_ the MP 40.

But there was a noticeable sound distinct as a small force charging toward the area. Everyone looked over to the sound in response, but they soon felt the increasing sense of imminent doom as they saw who had shown up.

"The time to wage battle has finally arrived!" Abe proclaimed as all eight history buffs charged forth to start the battle. Abe had on one of the blue Union Army uniforms, specifically one resembling that of the cavalry. He also wielded a Henry rifle equipped with a bayonet.

Gustav was on a horse he had somehow acquired as he wielded a Carolean-era sabre while wearing absolutely no armor whatsoever. Instead, he wore one of the later Carolean uniforms distinctive for its blue coat.

Leonidas had a full suite of greaves armor including a bronze helmet, and he was armed with a large _hoplon_ shield and a long _dory_ spear.

Wolf had on one of the green uniforms distinct as one from the German _Fallschirmjäger._ He had a fitting weapon, too. It was a _Fallschirmjägergewehr_ 42\. Specifically, it was one of the earlier models with the distinct sharply angled pistol grip and ribbed stock.

Saemonza had her Sengoku-era samurai armor, one of the _tosei-gusoku_ types, which included an era-appropriate _uchigatana_ sword.

Oryou had on one of the Bakumatsu-era military uniforms along with a musket as she also rode a horse.

Caesar had a full legionary's armor on, which included a shield and a sword along with an appropriate helmet.

Erwin had on one of the World War One-era _Sturmtruppen_ outfits, fit with trench coat, _Stahlhelm,_ and even a gas mask. But the weapon she wielded was not from that era. Instead, she wielded a _Maschinengewehr_ 42.

All of the history buffs quickly began attacking the nearest people to them, and everyone broke apart in response to escape. All of them chose to escape in groups. Those groups were based on their respective cliques. But Erich and Miho got separated from their groups during the chaos.

" _Runter!_ " Erich called out as he instinctively brought his own head down along with forcing Miho's head down to avoid fire from Erwin's MG 42 and Wolf's FG 42, and they made a fighting retreat as they backed away from the battlefield while returning with suppressive fire using their StG 44 and M712 respectively. That return fire forced the two German history buffs to get down and avoid the fire.

" _Los!_ " Erich told Miho upon noticing the German history buffs duck down. They both then ran to the safety of their friends, who had all gotten into defensive stances close to some trees as they covered the two German commanders.

Wolf and Erwin gave up on trying for the two German commanders, and they switched targets to take on some easier foes. Erwin proceeded to gun down many of the freshmen with her buzzsaw while Wolf chose to reload his FG 42 while he had the time. He removed the magazine in the left of the receiver, got a new one, rocked it into the left of the receiver where the magazine well was, and pulled the charging handle. During that time, both Oryou and Gustav drew their respective swords as their horses raised up on their back legs, as if preparing to charge like cavalry.

Some of the history buffs had already taken down some of the freshmen. Saemonza had taken down and was sitting on top of a despaired Yuuki with a glint in her only eye visible through her armor. Abe had charged with his bayonet-equipped Henry rifle to attack Erick, who tried to run in vain. Caesar had charged Aya with her shield and sword at the ready. Aya was sitting on the ground with a hand stretched out toward the Italian history buff, as if begging for mercy, but she never got it. Leonidas had his spear extended as he charged Julius, who had tried to run away from the phalanx-style maneuver, but it was in vain.

Watching the entire chaotic battlefield from a distance was Anzu and Aprikose. They had set up a defense quickly with the rest of the student council, and for the moment they just watched the battle progress.

"I know I told them to come equipped to fight, but…" Aprikose trailed off.

"This is reminding me more of _G.I. Samurai_ now…" Anzu said nonchalantly as she looked on at some of the freshmen trapped by the history buffs try to plea for mercy.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in the cover of the surrounding forest, the groups of Erich and Miho regrouped with each other. Both of the German leaders for the groups were reloading their weapons for the moment.

"Okay," Erich began after he pulled back the charging handle on his _Sturmgewehr_ to chamber a round from his latest magazine. "Let's take advantage of the situation and get some of the other groups while they're distracted. We'll split up and pick them off. Guys follow me, and girls follow Miho. Got that?"

"Got it!" everyone else confirmed as they held their weapons. The group then split up into the groups that Erich had described and went their separate ways. They did not pay any attention to two people sleeping against a nearby tree trunk, David and Mako. Both had the all black outfits, but they were evidently not participating in the fight as their sleeping indicated.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Wolf and Erwin were systematically dropping the other freshmen with their FG 42 and MG 42 respectively as many people ran for the trees or anywhere else to find any kind of cover.

Both Yuzu and Zitrus targeted Oryou and Gustav respectively through their AUGs' sights, and they shot the two history buffs off their horses and downed them. The horses then ran off into the forest and away from everyone else. Wolf immediately responded by turning to engage the rest of the student council. He quickly suppressed them as he covered the flank of the history buffs.

But the student council soon found themselves getting picked off one by one as fire came in from another direction. They all turned to engage, but by that point, Miho's squad had gunned down all of them in a very brief close-range engagement. Saori had, in a surprising display of adrenaline, gunned down two of the student council with her Tavor. Hana had dealt the final blow as she took down Anzu with her AW. Afterwards, she cycled the bolt to chamber another round.

"That's for deceiving me with the hot instructor!" Saori called out to the student council as she reloaded her Tavor with another magazine. Her current adrenaline from combat meant she had no difficulties with keeping her gun up.

"Man, is she _still_ not over that?" Yukari wondered with the others as the group began to move out. She and Miho were currently reloading their MP5 and M712 respectively.

XXXXXXXXXX

At the same time, Erich swept through another area of the forest alone. Upon spotting them, he briefly stopped and opened up with his StG 44 at the sports groups, and he took down Noriko from his brief fire before he ran through the trees to escape intense retaliatory fire from their rapid-fire submachine guns. All of the sports groups paid their attention to him as they tried to take him down.

From another direction while the sports groups were preoccupied with Erich, Herz unleashed the massive power of his Barrett rifle and effortlessly took down Ron. Nathan followed with some very quick bursts from his G11 to take down a couple, and Anton leveled the whole area with his M240 and took down the rest in conjunction with bursts from Nathan and a couple of .50 caliber rounds from Herz.

XXXXXXXXXX

The history buffs had by this point finished off the freshmen in the small clearing where everyone had previously gathered. Wolf also just finished reloading his FG 42 again, as he and Erwin took down the majority of them with their weapons.

"Enemies right! Engage!" Caesar ordered for the group as she spotted another group of enemies nearby.

They then engaged the gamer groups, who were all armed with sniper rifles. The girls had M40A3s while the guys had CheyTac M200 Interventions. They all had on ghillie suits as well to fit.

The gamers hastily sighted into their scopes as they tried to engage upon getting caught off guard, but they were all quickly and effortlessly cut down by Erwin's MG 42 supported by Wolf's FG 42.

"I guess quick-scoping doesn't work in real life…" Neville commented as the gamers lied on the ground in defeat.

" _Lade neu!_ " Erwin called out as she lifted up the feed tray and began reloading her MG 42. But she soon found herself get picked off by some accurate fire from the history buffs' rear, and Wolf returned fire to the attackers almost immediately as the rest of the history buffs turned to face the threat.

The fire came from the Public Morals Committee, who all wore the all black outfits. The girls each had a Heckler und Koch _Universale Maschinenpistole,_ the UMP45, while the guys all had M16A3s. They had all formed a very organized defense using some trees as cover.

"Take down the riflemen while we push forth!" Caesar ordered as she, Leonidas, and Saemonza pushed forward in a line to the Public Morals Committee. They all used their armor while Caesar and Leonidas also used their shields to absorb the blows from the .45 ACP rounds fired by the UMPs.

After splitting away from the armored trio, Wolf and Abe responded by firing on the riflemen of the Public Morals Committee. Abe soon chose to get up close to them to make use of his bayonet while Wolf picked them off from a distance. Lemu managed to nab Wolf with a burst of fire, but he himself was quickly taken down by a bayonet charge from Abe. Abe then took down the other boys of the committee with fire from his Henry rifle while Caesar, Leonidas, and Saemonza overran the girls with their armor and melee weapons.

Abe took a quick look around the area to look out for enemies, and he found some. "Enemies to our left!" Abe called out, but he was quickly taken down afterwards by a sniper, which was overlaid by a loud and powerful crack of fire. From his place by one of the trees, Herz grinned slightly as he looked through his scope and observed his .50 caliber round strike the American history buff.

At the same time, very heavy automatic shotgun fire started pounding the history buffs as a group of people sprung up to take the history buffs head-on.

The fire came from the mechanically proficient groups. All of them also wore the all black outfits, and they were outfitted with automatic shotguns. The girls all had Atchisson Assault Shotguns, better known as the AA-12, fitted with the 32 round drum, while the boys all had Pancor Jackhammers.

"March!" Yeager ordered, and all of them started marching forth in file to the history buffs with their guns pointed and ready to fire.

The automotive girls led off with the barrage of fire as they opened up, and as the groups got closer to the history buffs, the aeronautics guys started opening fire. Such a salvo of fire was able to take down the remaining history buffs, even with their armor. Their armor could not withstand the extreme power from eight automatic shotguns, and Caesar, Leonidas, and Saemonza eventually were dropped as well, which finally eliminated the history buffs.

But the mechanically proficient groups soon found themselves under attack from two directions. Herz first took down Yeager with a .50 caliber round, which was quickly followed by a shot from the opposite side that came from Hana's AW. That shot dropped Nakajima.

The mechanically proficient groups were stuck trying to reload their shotguns after using up their current magazines to take down the history buffs, and their attackers noticed. In response, Anton came forth and started using his M240 to cut down all of them while they were reloading. Saori also started spraying her Tavor at the shotgunners, which took down at least one.

The remaining automotive girls were taken down from a mixture of bursts from Nathan's G11 and automatic fire from Yukari's MP5 as she closed with the shotgunners. During that time, Erich was watching the fight occur as he circumvented his way around the fight. He did not join in so as to keep his current element of surprise.

Upon seeing the shotgunners start getting greatly weakened, the two attacking groups closed with resolve to cut off and finish off the remaining aeronautics guys. Anton started firing his M240 from the hip, Rambo style, while Nathan and Herz remained behind him to offer support as their group closed.

The girls led by Miho closed further to finish off the group from close range. Yukari started dumping the entire magazine of her MP5 from close range while the other three girls remained behind a bit to offer supporting fire.

Finally, the remaining shotgunners capitulated to the fire and were entirely defeated. What followed next was Herz following an order he was given by Erich earlier to prevent his discovery. Said order was heeded as Herz immediately lined up Hana in his sights, and he effortlessly downed her with his M82.

The girls hastily reacted to the betrayal as they all started to spread out in hopes of outmaneuvering the boys. Saori fired off her Tavor at Herz and managed to take him down. Nathan immediately took Saori down afterwards with a precise burst from his G11. Following that was Yukari closing with Nathan with her MP5 at the ready. Yukari then opened fire and hosed down Nathan, but she herself was quickly leveled by Anton's M240.

Anton turned to try and engage Miho, but he found himself getting his gun deflected by an arm block from Miho, who had closed the distance with him. She then aimed her M712 and took down Anton with a shot to the head at point-blank range. Anton dropped to the ground immediately after being defeated.

What followed after the fight was an eerie silence as the explosion of gunfire came to an end. But Miho knew that the fight wasn't yet over. She had not seen Erich lying among the defeated, and from the betrayal of his boys to her girls, she could only assume that he was also hostile.

She was now looking around her surroundings in a bit of a paranoid manner as she started getting nervous. Miho very well knew Erich's great expertise in surprise attacks, which made her grow paranoid since she had no way to foresee any attack he might make. So she resolved to constantly scanning the area around her as she tried to stay mobile. She kept her M712 at the ready as she held it close and pointed up, ready to aim in an instant.

But she stopped after she heard some rustling. She quickly turned and aimed to the source, but she found nothing there. She tried to calm herself as she took some breaths, but she wasn't able to stop herself from continuously scanning her surroundings out of an increasing sense of paranoia.

She continued walking on, remembering to keep her steps quiet as she tried to seek out Erich. She closely observed as many trees as she could for anything unusual, like a body part or a weapon barrel sticking out from behind it, but she found nothing so far, and she continued on.

But she heard another rustle that she determined to be above her, and she looked up to the source. But she had looked too late, and she could not bring up her weapon in time.

The source of the rustling was from Erich, who had literally dropped down from one of the trees with his _Sturmgewehr_ on his back as he landed on top of Miho and took the both of them down to the ground. Taking advantage of the shock factor and her disorientation, he quickly subdued her as he turned her over to have her front against the ground before he restrained her arms behind her back and tossed her M712 away from them. He then held her down against the ground and drew a knife. All of that took place in the span of a few seconds.

Upon hearing the sound of a knife get drawn, Miho struggled in an effort to break free, but Erich had too strong of a grip to allow her to break away. It also didn't help that he knew her capabilities in full, and as such could counter any moves she could possibly make in this situation.

"You give up yet?" Erich quietly said to her as he lightly trailed the blade of his knife against the side of her cheek, reminding her of where her odds for victory currently stood. The knife itself was a _Kampfmesser_ 42.

Miho struggled on for a few more seconds, but she soon found her efforts to be in vain, and she sighed in defeat and gave up. "Yes… I give up," she acquiesced to the surrender offer.

"Well, then it's official…" Anzu remarked among the others lying in defeat. "Erich is the last one standing, therefore _Messer_ Squad wins…"

Everyone else was lying around the battlefield in defeat. They were not harmed, as the weapons and outfits used were modified wherever possible to not allow lethal harm to human bodies while retaining all other characteristics, such as penetration abilities for bullets or sharpness for melee weapons. But everyone was in varying levels of pain, as the custom modifications were only meant to stop everything from killing humans. They did not necessarily stop the weapons from hurting them.

Erich then holstered his _Kampfmesser_ and got up from Miho, and he offered her a hand. Miho took it as she grew a relieved smile upon not having to effectively be paranoid anymore.

"And you said you were no good at stuff like this, #2 survivor," Erich said to her with a teasing tone and similar grin.

"Oh, shut it!" Miho responded with a grin as she smacked his chest. Such a smack wasn't painful in the least to Erich, as evidenced by his chuckling at the hit. She then leaned against him and grew a more relaxed look as they walked off together after their duel and the fight ended.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	69. Kapitel 13,2,19

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier_**

 ** _Kapitel Neunzehn: Katjuscha Herausforderung_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

All the way by Vladivostok, both the _USS George Washington_ and the _Kiev_ were docked close to the Russian city. The American carrier was docked within the _Amurskiy zal,_ while the Russian carrier was docked in the _Ussuriyskiy zal_ on the opposite side of the city. It was just another instance of two ships having to share the same port.

Within the city proper, the main four leaders of Pravda's Arts of Warfare programs were walking through the streets. All were in their normal school outfits. Katyusha soon saw something that caught her interest.

She had found all of Saunders' Arts of Warfare leaders casually talking to each other in a relaxed manner as they stood on the sidewalk across the street from the Pravda group. All wore their normal Saunders school uniforms, but they added a gray jacket to the mix because of the more chilly weather at the moment. But what caught Katyusha's attention was seeing Naomi blow a bubble with her gum.

"Hey, I wanna do that!" she claimed as she pointed to Naomi still blowing her bubble.

The other Russians there looked to see what Katyusha was talking about.

"Oh, you mean blowing bubbles with gum?" Sasha asked as he raised an eyebrow. He then entered thought for a brief moment before he turned to Nonna. "Hey Nonna, you have some gum?"

" _Da,_ " Nonna nodded as she dug through one of her pockets. She soon pulled out two sticks of gum.

" _Khorosho, spasibo,_ " Sasha thanked her as he took the sticks. He then turned over to Katyusha. "Hey, Katyusha."

Katyusha turned to face him upon hearing him say her name.

"Wanna learn how to blow a bubble?" Sasha offered as he held a stick of gum out for her.

" _Da! Da!_ " Katyusha eagerly replied affirmative with a similar eager grin as she rushed forth for the stick of gum. She appeared much like a child with her current behavior.

When she took the stick of gum, Katyusha immediately unwrapped it and put the gum into her mouth. She chewed it very quickly to make it sticky and tried to immediately blow a bubble. But her attempt was cut short when her bubble popped immediately after she started blowing it.

"I can't do it…" she irritably noted as she grew a frustrated look at her attempt. The attempt left her gum splattered all over her mouth on her face.

Beside her now and crouched to her level, Sasha had more calmly chewed his gum to make it sticky.

"First, you have to space it out over your tongue," he said to Katyusha as he chewed. He waited a bit while he spread out his own gum over his tongue. "Then you have to push it up against your lips." He then moved his gum to push against his own lips. "Then you blow by gently breathing out." He demonstrated by blowing a bubble with practically no effort.

After demonstrating, Sasha opened his mouth and popped his bubble with his teeth. "There," he remarked to Katyusha with a satisfied look. "That's all there is to it."

Katyusha digested the information Sasha revealed to her as she gathered her gum into her mouth again. "Okay…" she said as she nodded in understanding. She then grew a concentrated look.

Sasha noticed what was to come, and he coached Katyusha through her next attempt. "Space it out over your tongue…" he reminded.

He noticed from her chewing pattern that she had done so, and so he continued. "Then push it up against your lips…"

He saw Katyusha perform what he instructed, and he moved on. "Now blow by gently breathing out…"

Katyusha continued concentrating hard as she gently breathed out through her mouth. She ended up blowing a small bubble from her attempt.

Sasha noticed and clapped a few times in congratulation. "Good, you're doing it!" he praised. "Now just a bit more."

Katyusha continued blowing a larger bubble, but Sasha awkwardly raised an eyebrow as he saw her face start turning blue. He could deduce what was making her face turn blue rather quickly.

"Um, Katyusha? It's alright to breathe in through your nose, you know," he advised.

Katyusha was by now concentrating so hard that she was shaking and had her fists clenched, so she likely didn't even hear his advice.

Sasha then looked over to Nonna and Nudelmann. "I think I may need some help right around now," he said to them.

" _Da,_ " both of the taller Russians nodded affirmative, and the three closed with Katyusha to break her out of her concentration.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	70. Kapitel 13,2,20

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwanzig: Froh, es war nur ein Traum... oder war es?_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Over aboard the _Zuikaku,_ it was yet another relatively normal day. At the moment, Miho, Erich, and all their friends were having a picnic for lunch out in the hills on the top deck. Plenty of food was brought along. Most of it was made by the girls, but the guys pitched in wherever they could.

Soon, their current conversation took a turn, courtesy of Miho. "Hey, have any of you ever had a dream where you were falling from a really high height down to the ground?" she asked their group as she sat on her knees.

She asked such a question because of a recent dream she could recall. She had dreamed she was in Erich's Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 sitting on his lap as he flew it along. But suddenly, a hail of bullets came flying in from above. They killed Erich, set the fighter ablaze, and snapped both wings off the _Messer,_ which sent it into an unrecoverable dive. Despite such a dream, out in the real world she was acting as if it wasn't a big deal, or that it had even happened. She was acting just as she normally would, which was some great acting on her part since the dream did actually scare her quite a bit.

"Oh yeah, I've had one of those!" Saori replied with a smile while sitting on her knees. She then raised a finger. "There's also the kind where something you can't make out is chasing you!"

Upon having the scenario brought up, Saori recalled a recent dream of her own. This one was where she was running through dark alleys with a mysterious figure in a black coat chasing after her. No matter what Saori did, whether it be jumping over walls or using props to try and obstruct the path behind her, her pursuer still kept up with her.

"Yeah," Hana agreed with her usual calmness. "Even though you're trying to escape, you can't run hardly at all." She then held a hand to herself in a gesture to herself. "I've had one where I couldn't pull the trigger, even during a fight."

She spoke in reference to a dream she recalled where she was in her gunner's seat in the _Panzer_ IV H. She was able to aim the _Kampfwagenkanone_ 40 L/48 at the enemy tank, but she was unable to pull the trigger. No matter what she did, Hana found herself unable to fire the gun, and the last thing she could remember about the dream was seeing a flash from the cannon barrel of the enemy tank that was aimed at her own.

"It was a nightmare…" she said about her dream with a slight awkward smile.

"I've had a similar dream where I was in a fight," Yukari admitted as she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "I couldn't load any of the shells, and the enemy nearly finished us…" She then recalled her dream in greater detail, and she raised a finger upon recalling one detail. "Looking back on it now, they didn't even appear to be shells at all. They were just huge suppositories."

"Yukari, that's just…" Saori began, but trailed off. She truly didn't have any words to describe what she thought of Yukari's dream.

"Well, I've had odder dreams," Anton remarked as he laid on his stomach. "For one, I've had the kind where you're on an operating table and can't move any part of you."

Anton's dream was where he was on some kind of operating table. He was unrestrained, but he found himself unable to move. He noted that his body had a huge amount of skin missing along with bone sticking out in various spots. He could see the ones supposedly operating on him discussing with each other, but he couldn't pick out much since they were speaking German for some reason. All he could pick out was the word ' _Reich,_ ' but also around the area was a large amount of blood, including on the wall a flag of Nazi Germany covered in splatters of blood. He could also hear groaning mixed with some sounds he could identify as grunts from some zombie kind of creature.

"Ah, that's definitely an unnerving kind of dream," Herz agreed as he laid on his stomach. "I've had the kind where I have hordes of monsters coming after me."

Herz's dream was one where he was only armed with one of his bows, a crossbow to be specific. He had only that and the arrows for it to face a massive horde of what could only be described as monsters. They appeared similar to Frankenstein's monster, but with a bloodier and more gory appearance. Some even lacked lower jaws as they slowly walked over to Herz with their arms extended out in his direction.

"Yeah, that's a scary dream to have, eh," Nathan agreed. "I've had one where I was stuck in the middle of nowhere and couldn't find any way to get back to civilization."

Nathan spoke in reference to his own dream where he was in the middle of a desert that just expanded on and on for seemingly forever in every direction. It wouldn't have been so bad if there weren't hostile animals there, like snakes, scorpions, and other poisonous or otherwise deadly animals.

"Wow, that's definitely unsettling," Miho observed. She then looked to beside her, where Erich was lying on his stomach. "What about you, _Bubi?_ Have you had any strange dreams?"

Erich rolled himself so he now faced the sky and he grew a look of thought as he rested his hands behind his head. His body ended up being directly against Miho's leg because of his roll. "Well…" he began as he mused. "I've had the kind where I've met effectively another version of myself."

The dreams Erich was referring to were about him hanging out with a particular girl that he had never seen before, yet still felt was like family, like a twin sister in a sense. The girl herself was shorter than he was, but not by much. She had a stereotypical German appearance, with blonde hair that reached down to her shoulders put into a _Bubischnitt,_ or a bob, along with blue eyes. She had a body that was similar in curves and bust size to the average fifteen-year-old girl. The clothes she wore consisted mainly of the Ooarai girls school uniform, but some other distinctive things about her outfit were that she wore black combat boots, a black _Luftwaffe_ ground crew jacket left open, and also a GwZF4-fach sniper scope on a string around her neck. Erich could not ever recall seeing the girl without a smile on her face or otherwise upset in some way. She was always energetic, happy, joyful, and playful as far as he could remember.

Erich then shook his head. "What a unique person that was," he remarked. "If only I could remember their name, though. All I remember about it was that there was a song that used it extensively."

XXXXXXXXXX

Within some hills in an unknown world, a girl sneezed from her seat on top of a hill looking at the scenery. The girl exactly matched the description of the girl in Erich's dream.

The way she sneezed made her seem ridiculously cute. She grew a pout and huffed a bit at her own sneeze, which made her look even more adorable to the boy sitting next to her.

"Is something up, Erika?" the boy next to her asked as he looked over to her and away from the scenery. The voice had a noticeable German tilt to it. The boy himself had light brown hair along with eyes of a similar color. He was currently wearing the Ooarai boys school uniform without any extra additions to it. He had a relatively average body and height compared to other boys his age.

"No, Manfred," the girl shook her head. "It just felt like someone was talking about me."

"Ah," the boy next to her raised his eyebrows as he gained a knowing grin. "Well, that's to be expected in a way. I mean, you _are_ a very popular person."

Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann grew a smile hearing the words of Manfred Nishizumi, and she chuckled to herself a bit. "Your flattery will get you nowhere," she playfully retorted as she turned to Manfred with a wolfish grin. During that time, she also slithered her arms and legs so they clung to his body, with her legs wrapped around his lower torso and her hands at the back of his head. "Of course, since we already _are_ in the middle of nowhere," Erika began in a coy manner as the two stared into each other's eyes. She then brought his head so it rested against hers. "Why not take advantage of it?"

The German boy she had effectively trapped lightly laughed as he held a blush on his face from the blond-haired girl's current position. "I guess it's just like the song now, isn't it?" he remarked as he brought his hands to hold Erika's waist. He then began said song. " _Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein._ "

Erika grew a blush herself, and hearing Manfred sing that song drove her over the edge with regards to her self control. She started to fervently kiss him when he finished the first line.

" _Und das heißt,_ " Manfred continued after briefly separating from Erika. The blond-haired German girl quickly brought him back into their passionate kiss again.

" _Erika,_ " Manfred finished during another brief separation before Erika brought him back into what had now become a make-out session. Erika was not willing to let him get away with singing that song without having her own fun with him as well.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	71. Kapitel 13,2,21

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Einundzwanzig: Der Tag, an dem der I-Go zitterte**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Within the hangars one day at Ooarai, Noriko was standing atop a box of Ibaraki Potatoes with a volleyball in her right arm.

"Volleyball is always on our mind!" she proclaimed with her usual amount of great passion. "Even while participating in _Panzerkraft,_ we will never miss a chance to practice!" She raised her fist at the end.

"Right!" all of her fellow volleyball team members agreed with similar passion, though theirs was not quite as high as their leader's. They were all kneeled down around the box.

"Now, into the tank!" Noriko ordered as she pointed to their nearby I-Go otsu.

At the order, all of the volleyball girls ran over to the Japanese tank and entered it. Akebi and Noriko got in through the turret hatch while Shinobu and Taeko got in through the hull hatch, all in that order.

"Now to train our legs, we're gonna start out with doing the air chair inside the tank!" Noriko announced after they all settled into the I-Go. "And start!"

At her cue, each of the volleyball girls started doing the air chair. They bent their legs and body so as to appear like they were sitting straight up on a chair, but they were not on any seats, and they had to use their muscles to hold that position.

Noriko had no trouble whatsoever with holding the air chair position, but the same could not be said for the others. The other three started to sweat and shake their legs after a minute of holding the position as they started to grow fatigue.

"These are so painful…" Taeko groaned out as she held herself in the air chair.

"Now!" Noriko began sometime later as she rose from her air chair. The other girls then breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that they didn't have to continue with the exercise, and they also came out of their air chairs. "Next up, we're going to do squats!" she announced and immediately started doing squats with her arms behind her head.

"Squats?" Taeko wondered confused.

"What's a squat?" Akebi asked. She didn't know what squats were, supposedly, and neither did Taeko by the looks of it.

"There's no way I can do those," Shinobu remarked from her spot. As the driver, she had to stay in her place so as to drive the tank, meaning she couldn't do something like squats.

"One," Noriko counted off as she continued doing squats. "Two… Three… Four…"

Upon seeing their leader continue on regardless, the other girls then hesitantly tried to do the same.

"Ouch!" Taeko cried out. She ended up banging her head on the hull when she tried to rise.

XXXXXXXXXX

Outside the tank within the hangars, Miho and Erich just entered the hangars, only to be welcomed by the sounds of repeated creaking and rattling from metal parts. They could also hear Noriko's voice counting within the I-Go, along with some other noises they could distinguish as body-to-armor impacts followed by an appropriate cry of pain.

Miho started growing a blush as she looked at the I-Go in disbelief at what she thought was going on inside. "What the hell is going on in the I-Go?" she asked with a bit of dread for what could be the possible answer as to why the Japanese tank was bouncing.

Erich, however, started thinking hard when he heard Miho's question. He soon determined with his hearing that there was a rhythm to the creaks and rattles, but it was only being lightly followed. The other creaks and rattles that didn't follow the rhythm were matching up with the unusual sounds he had figured to be something impacting the armor from within. He also noticed that the I-Go was mainly bouncing up and down, and not side to side or back and forth.

He then came up with a conclusion. "I don't think that what you're _thinking_ they're doing, Miho, is what they're _actually_ doing," Erich determined as he looked on at the I-Go.

"Huh?" Miho wondered with slight confusion now evident in her current face. She still had the blush and a bit of disbelief remaining on her face.

"Well, from what I can see, those girls are just doing something like what those guys are doing," Erich elaborated. He had pointed over to another nearby vehicle, the Type 94 SPAA crewed by the badminton boys, to emphasize. Said badminton boys were now alternately kicking each of their legs up while keeping their arms crossed, like in one particular dance. But they were seemingly doing it for exercise as they did it on the truck's bed.

"Come on, you all!" Ron barked at the other three with a great passion as he continued on with the so-called exercise. "Keep going! We've still got four more hours of this!"

"Yes!" the other three badminton boys responded affirmative. They did so in a similar tone of passion, but it was not as high as their leader's was. But they did not falter in their exercise one bit. The routine they were all performing had the side effect of making the Type 94 bounce somewhat on its suspension.

"Huh…" Miho said upon seeing the badminton boys doing their current exercise routine. She was now enlightened as to what exactly _Duck_ Team was doing in their tank, and she no longer had a blush from it.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	72. Kapitel 13,2,22

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreizehn-komma-zwei: Extra Vier**_

 _ **Kapitel Zweiundzwanzig: Mütze**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Within the city of Kiel were members from both Schwarzwaldspitze High School and Ooarai High School. Both the _Graf Zeppelin_ and the _Zuikaku_ were docked within the city's port for school ships, which was placed at the port's inlet by the sea, near the _Marine Ehrenmal._ For Schwarzwaldspitze, it was just another stop at their homeport to resupply. For Ooarai, they were there because it happened to be the closest port that they could resupply from, which marked yet another time where both schools had to share the same port with each other.

There were some particular people that were all close to each other currently within the plaza for the _Altstadt_ sector of the city. Said people consisted of Miho, Erich, and all their main friends plus Maho and Alfred. All were in their combat outfits for some reason. For the moment, Alfred had taken most everyone over to one of the many restaurants in the plaza. He specifically took them to the _Kieler Brauerei,_ so those that hadn't been in the country extensively could get a taste of what Germany was really like, with 'taste' being taken literally.

Maho, Erich, Miho, and Yukari chose not to get hammered on beer with everyone else at the moment as they stayed outside within the plaza. Erich stayed out because Maho wanted to talk to him. Miho stayed out to stay with Erich, but Maho insisted that she talk to Erich alone, so Miho had to stay away. Yukari stayed out to give Miho some company for the moment.

"So," Maho began casually to Erich as she held a hand to her hip. "I saw that _Blechkrawatte_ around Miho's neck. If I remember right, I remember that being _yours,_ so you mind telling me what that's about?"

"Ah, you noticed," Erich remarked with a typical calm smile as he held his arms behind his head in a casual way. "Well I chose to give her that as a Christmas present, so it's now hers."

"Why?" Maho asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wanted to give her something special," Erich replied to her question. "Because she herself is very special, so I wanted to give her something to match that."

XXXXXXXXXX

Watching the conversation go on from further away were Miho and Yukari. Miho was trying to see if she could read their lips to find out what her boyfriend and sister were talking about, but Yukari instead was staring more at Maho's Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerkraft_ uniform.

She whistled a bit in impressment. "Man, Schwarzwaldspitze's hat looks pretty sharp with that jacket of theirs, doesn't it?" she remarked to Miho beside her.

"Huh?" Miho snapped out of her focus on trying to decipher what Erich and Maho were saying to turn to Yukari. "Oh, yeah!" she smiled as she agreed. "It sure does!" She then thought for a bit. "Speaking of which, Ooarai's _Panzerkraft_ uniform doesn't come with a hat."

"Well…" Yukari began as she took off her bag and started digging through it. "If we're going to put something on our heads…"

Miho looked on at Yukari in curiosity before Yukari slapped something on top of Miho's head. "We should go with something like this!" Yukari suggested.

What was on Miho's head was a hat of sorts. It was styled after an anglerfish, and it held the same pink color seen on the anglerfish emblem on her _Panzer_ IV H. It appeared somewhat like a flattened anglerfish in its hat form. Miho grew a blank look upon noticing what Yukari had put on her head.

"Should we make it navy blue to match the jacket?" Yukari suggested as she donned an identical hat, but this one was dark blue like the normal Ooarai _Panzerkraft_ jacket.

"Or we could change the jacket to be pink instead," Yukari additionally suggested as she changed jackets almost impossibly quick. She changed from her normal uniform jacket to a version that was pink, like the color of the anglerfish hat.

" _Gott,_ you're so prepared…" Miho muttered as she slumped her shoulders. "Come on, there's no way we're gonna be wearing these, right?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Alright, Maho. _Bis nächstes Mal,_ " Erich said goodbye to Maho after their little chat.

" _Mach's gut, Bubi,_ " Maho bid Erich farewell, and they then went their separate ways. Maho chose to go to the _Kieler Brauerei_ to get hammered on beer like many of the others there.

Erich chose to go off to find Miho again. He couldn't spot her immediately, so he walked around the plaza a bit to see if he could find her hanging out somewhere. He soon happened on two girls around his age in what he found to be some rather odd clothing. One was rather energetic at the moment while the other was the opposite with her shoulders slumped. Erich thought they may have seen Miho recently, so he closed with them to ask.

" _Sie da,_ " Erich greeted as he stopped by them. " _Wissen Sie wo…_ " he began to ask, but he trailed off as the girls turned to him. He recognized them as being Miho and Yukari, still dressed in the outfits Yukari had brought along.

Yukari had no particular expression outside her normal one as she turned to Erich, but Miho grew wide eyes as she grew a blush on her face from embarrassment of Erich not only seeing her in her current outfit, but also from him not recognizing her because of it.

Both Miho and Erich stared at each other and blinked a few times. Both felt just how awkward their current situation was, and as such no words were needed from them to acknowledge that.

Finally, Erich started to grow a teasing grin, and he raised a finger as if preparing to speak up.

Miho saw, and she quickly countered. "Ap!" she cut him off with as stern a look as she could muster. Such a look still had her blush present with her stern look of denial.

Erich stayed quiet, but he soon made a move to speak up again.

"Ap!" Miho denied him again as she held a hand up toward him.

Erich obeyed, but he soon disobeyed her order again to try and speak up.

"Ap!" Miho interrupted him again to deny him the chance to speak as she pointed to him with a similar intent of denial.

Erich stayed quiet in response. Both stared at each other with their current looks for several seconds of silence. Erich still had his teasing grin while Miho had her stern look of denial mixed with a blush. Miho was effectively daring Erich to say anything at all about her outfit.

" _Fischkopf!_ " Erich quickly and childishly blurted out at random and caught Miho off guard. He then started laughing like a child as he immediately ran off.

He ran off because he knew Miho was going to follow him, and follow him she did. "Aaaargh!" she yelled out as she chased after him with intent. " _Du unreifes Kind! Komm hier und lass mich dich schmatzen!_ "

And so Miho chased Erich around the plaza in an effort to make him pay for his comment. Neither of them noticed Yukari walk off while innocently whistling. She made her way over to the _Kieler Brauerei_ where the others were. As she approached, she saw all nine of the others come out, and eight of them were absolutely hammered from beer. Maho was fine, as she only had a single drink. But the other eight were so drunk they were barely able to stand up, and they were forced to support each other.

Mako and David were effectively being supported by the rest, as they had fallen asleep during their drinking. Whether it was because they passed out from the beer or because of their natural tendency to sleep was impossible to know.

Soon enough, Erich and Miho came and passed them during their little chase, and the others grew interested in what was going on with them.

"Is it just me or does Miho look like she wants to kill Erich?" Herz wondered as he raised an eyebrow.

"I dunno, sounds like something interesting happened then…" Anton got out as those that were hammered tried to hold their balance.

" _Noch ein Biiiiieeee-hiiiiieeeer!_ " Alfred drunkenly called out from his current spot in the group. " _Ich möchte ein Bier, bitte!_ "

Maho looked to everyone who was hammered from their evidently massive drinking of beer, and she rolled her eyes as she grew a grin. "It's gonna be a hell of a hangover for all of them tomorrow," she remarked to herself.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	73. Kapitel 14,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Vierzehn: Inzwischen in Russland..._**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Das Bild der zukünftigen Erwartungen!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile in Russia… aboard the _Kiev,_ a training match had recently ended for Pravda's Arts of Warfare programs, and everyone had headed out from it as the evening continued on.

The four leaders for the _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ teams were all walking back home together at the moment. Katyusha chose to ride on Sasha's shoulders this time as the two taller Russians flanked them on either side. All were changed back into their school uniforms.

"Aaaah…" Katyusha sighed as she ate out of a bag of chips. "Today's training fight was yet another piece of cake!"

" _Da,_ " Nonna nodded in agreement from beside. "No matter the enemy, Katyusha will always defeat them."

"But that fight made me really hungry!" Katyusha continued on as she ate rather messily.

"Can you at least try to eat without making crumbles…" Sasha muttered in slight annoyance with a deadpan look. He was getting somewhat annoyed because of Katyusha's crumbs falling down onto him.

"Oh, you all should know that as of late, my appetite has been full of vim and vigor!" Katyusha spoke up. She then raised a finger as she continued with confidence. "This is probably my growth phase coming up!"

"Is that so…" Nudelmann deadpanned from Katyusha's other side. He didn't believe for a second that Katyusha would ever grow up, physically or mentally, and neither did Sasha and Nonna judging by their similar looks.

Katyusha didn't notice, and for the rest of the time walking home, she imagined what her life would be like if she was a grown-up _krasavitsa._

Overall, she did not change too much in terms of details. She still had her same short blonde hair and a similar face, but she imagined her face as having that mature touch to it mixed with her usual facial expressions.

Her body was an entirely different story. She was now much taller, but she was only up to an average height for girls her age. Her bust and curves were also relatively average for a girl her age. But Katyusha didn't see that body as being average, because it was such an improvement over her current body that such perceptions didn't matter, at least to her. She also had a far sexier appearance because of that body, something that her face was easily able to show as well.

She had imagined her grown-up body in Pravda's normal school uniform along with being completely nude. The body Katyusha had imagined herself with was now able to let her wear a normal size uniform. She didn't have to have one specially made for her anymore. Her body itself she imagined as being silky smooth to the touch everywhere, and it was a dream body to her.

By this time, the four of them had gotten back to their home in the real world, and Katyusha also came back from her imagination back to the real world at the same time. She immediately jumped off of Sasha's shoulders down to the living room floor with a look of great anticipation of that expectation for her body.

"Just wait and watch, _tovarishchi!_ " Katyusha proclaimed with complete confidence. "I will also soon join the ranks of adulthood!"

"I'm looking forward to it," Sasha said from behind her as he rolled his eyes in doubt that Katyusha would ever grow up. By that time, Nonna had gone off somewhere else in the house.

Katyusha then turned to the other two and headed for Nudelmann. "To repay everything you've all done up to this point, I'll let all of you ride on my shoulders!" she continued with her confidence. She then tried to lift up Nudelmann to let him ride on his shoulders. She was able to do it, but she was obviously struggling if her shaking body said anything about it. "I'll even give rides to Nudelmann!"

"You know that that's going to be tough, no matter how large you may grow…" Nudelmann calmly informed as he tried to not overburden Katyusha's small body with his own. But soon enough, he chose to voluntarily get off to literally take that burden off her shoulders, and Katyusha started taking some deep breaths to recover her highly spent energy.

"But are you fine with that?" Nonna asked with her usual calm smile as she entered the living room with some yellow articles of clothing. "If you're all grown up, then you won't be able to wear these cute pajamas I bought recently…"

Katyusha turned to Nonna upon hearing her come in, and she grew wide eyes and hung her mouth open a bit upon seeing what Nonna had brought out. She could not resist the temptation of wearing the pajamas Nonna had brought out.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later, Katyusha came back into the living room with a look of confidence after she chose to change into the pajamas Nonna had brought out. The pajamas themselves were a yellow pair of pants with a yellow long-sleeve shirt that had red buttons going up the middle. The pajamas also came with something to cover her head. Said article was also yellow, and it most represented a teddy bear in appearance.

Katyusha then came down to the living room floor and lied on her stomach as she started to eat her chips again, like a true child. "Well, it might be alright to stay like this for a little longer!" she figured.

Everyone else was also in their sleepwear, and all had yellow cups with red stars on them full of drinks courtesy of Nonna. All of them besides Nonna also lied on the floor, but Nonna chose to sit on her knees as she poured a drink for herself. Nonna had on some red pajamas similar to Katyusha's in general configuration, but she lacked the cap, and her pajamas were sized to her body.

"Katyusha, you're already charming enough with the way you are now," Sasha spoke up with a grin as he looked to Katyusha. He was wearing a pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt, almost as basic as sleepwear could get without descending into undergarments. Nudelmann had on dark green sweatpants with a gray long-sleeve shirt.

"No way!" Katyusha shook her head with vigor as she held a childish smile. "I'm gonna grow big in no time!"

"Yeah, sure…" Sasha replied in supposed agreement. He still doubted she would ever grow up despite her insistence that she would, as did the other two taller Russians.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	74. Kapitel 14,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Vierzehn: Inzwischen in Russland..._**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Es ist das Sascha Tagebuch!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Kiev_ during yet another normal Russian day, Katyusha was carefully peeking around a building's corner. She was in her usual small Pravda school uniform.

Why she was peeking was because she was staring at Sasha walking through the area for some reason. He didn't have any particular expression of note as he walked on in his usual Pravda school outfit. He had a relatively neutral look.

Katyusha then quietly got out a book and pencil, and she muttered quietly as she wrote something down in it. "Fourteen hundred," she began. "Passing corner of 3rd block! As of now, target destination still unknown…" She then finished writing. "Done!"

She then closed the book. The book itself was sized like a composition notebook. On the front cover was the title 'Sasha Diary,' and the author was Katyusha. There was a childishly drawn picture of a bear's head on the cover, as well.

"I once heard a rumor that Nonna made something called the 'Katyusha Diary' with the help of Sasha and Nudelmann!" Katyusha quietly said to herself in reflection with a determined grin. "So keeping that in mind, I have created a 'Sasha Diary!' Why create one for Sasha? Well, that's because he's far more easily riled, and hence embarrassed!" She then made a fist as she continued with reflecting on her plan for a counterattack. "So I will disclose Sasha's private life to find out whether or not the rumors of the 'Katyusha Diary' are true or not!"

While Katyusha was reflecting on why she was currently following him, Sasha had looked back and spotted her out of the corner of his eye. He didn't hold any reaction besides turning back so he could continue walking on.

"Huh?" Katyusha reacted as she saw Sasha continue walking on, and she scampered away to follow him.

"Just gotta hang in there!" Katyusha quietly motivated herself as she took cover behind a street pole while following Sasha through some more streets. "It's almost snack time!"

Sasha grew a slight grin as he continued forth, since he could perfectly hear Katyusha behind him. But he continued to play oblivious.

He soon arrived at the Volga Bookshop, and he walked inside.

"A book store?" Katyusha wondered as she hid behind a shelf of books just outside. She kept watching Sasha for a bit before she entered as well.

She followed him discreetly before Sasha stopped in one of the aisles and picked up a magazine. Said magazine had a cover picture of an Me 262 A-1a firing off some R4M rockets it carried under its wings just outboard of its engines.

"Ah, he's taking a look at this month's Arts of Warfare magazine…" Katyusha observed as she hid behind a promotional sign.

Sasha flipped through the magazine for a bit, and Katyusha saw him stop at an article led off by a picture of her pointing onwards in a heroic pose.

"Oh, he's reading this month's article about me!" Katyusha observed.

But Sasha continued to flip onwards and soon stopped at an article led off by a picture of Erich and Miho posed together with both of them flashing a victory sign from one of their hands in a victorious manner.

"What?! He skipped _my_ article for the one on _Ooarai?!_ " Katyusha observed as she started to grow angry and highly jealous. She threw a brief childish tantrum as she swung around her arms while she growled a bit. ' _But why?! Why aren't you looking at the pictures of_ me?!' she thought in jealousy as she stomped her feet a bit.

Sasha could see her little tantrum from the corner of his eye, and he grew a small grin seeing her behave that way. He then looked back to his magazine and continued to read it.

The next article he chose to stop and skim through was one where Alfred-Joachim Hartmann had chosen to speak about the performance and abilities of the Bf 109 G-6. Sasha quickly grew a look that said he was getting pissed as he read through the article. As he reached the end, he finally chucked the magazine back to the shelf in anger.

" _Yebanny Cherniy Chort,_ " he cursed as he stomped out of the store.

Katyusha heard Sasha's stomps and snapped out of her little tantrum as she quickly made her way to follow him. She discreetly followed him out of the store and out onto the streets surrounding.

' _Huh, looks like he still hates seeing German engineering prevail,_ ' Katyusha thought to herself on the outburst as she continued following Sasha throughout the streets. She soon momentarily stopped to observe him from behind a corner.

By now, the blond Russian ace had calmed down from his burst of anger earlier, and he now had a more neutral look as he walked on.

' _But still,_ ' Katyusha thought as she rushed to take cover behind a sign along Sasha's path. ' _Just where does he intend to go?_ '

As she continued to follow him, she soon stopped and peeked around another corner that led into an alley, where Sasha had chosen to walk into. But she broke out of her cover upon seeing Sasha hop up to the top of the wall at the end of the alley after boosting himself up with the trash can there. She grew a surprised look seeing him parkour up to the wall's top, evidently caught off-guard by that.

Katyusha chose to follow, but her short height gave her a hard time with scaling the wall. ' _Just where is he even going?!_ ' she thought in disbelief of Sasha's route. ' _Does Sasha always walk through here?!_ '

Katyusha soon managed to get to the top, and she followed Sasha who had by now started walking along the wall's top. She chose to follow by crawling along the top of the wall.

She soon spotted a cat looking to her from a nearby balcony, and in alarm she quickly shushed it with a finger to her lips. The cat looked on as if confused at what Katyusha was doing.

XXXXXXXXXX

From the ground, both Nina and Alina were looking up at the wall with looks of confusion as they saw Katyusha crawling after Sasha atop the wall.

"Do you have any idea what the _komandiry_ are up to this time?" Alina wondered to Nina beside her.

"Who knows?" Nina replied as she shrugged her shoulders.

XXXXXXXXXX

Atop the wall, Sasha just reached the end of it. He jumped from the top, performed a forward roll in the air, and landed in a dramatic crouch with a hand to the ground. He then sprung up and continued on.

Katyusha, meanwhile, soon arrived to the edge, and she cautiously made her way down. Her short height prevented her from descending without falling at least a little bit, so she descended as carefully as she could.

She finally descended to the ground via a slight drop down, and she hurried to follow Sasha. She had fallen behind a bit because of her cautious descent.

The next area Sasha passed through was full of bushes and shrubbery. Sasha passed through it relatively calmly. But behind him, Katyusha followed with a lot more rustling noises from the shrubbery as she hastily tried to catch up to him.

The bushes and shrubbery opened up to a playground. Sasha approached a few young kids playing jump rope, and he passed through by jumping through the rope being swung.

The kids looked a bit surprised and confused by Sasha entering their jump rope game. They were looking at him walk off with looks of confusion after he passed through. But Katyusha ended up passing through the jump rope, too, while they weren't paying attention. What resulted was Katyusha getting smacked by the rope.

"Ah!" she reacted as she stumbled a bit. The kids playing with the rope then looked to her in surprise and alarm as they realized what just occurred. But Katyusha paid them no mind as she shook her head quickly to dispel the pain and rushed off to catch back up to Sasha.

She finally caught up with him as he passed by a barred metal fence. On the other side of that fence was a Russian bear. Why a Russian bear was being kept in a neighborhood is easy enough to guess with the fact that the _Kiev_ is a Russian ship, inhabited by Russians who like to do Russian things.

As Sasha passed the bear, he gave a quick pet to it through the bars as he rubbed the fur on its head. The bear did not react with hostility to the rub, but it instead growled contently, as if satisfied with it.

When Katyusha moved to pass the bear, the bear started roaring loudly as it came up against the fence's bars and tried to reach over to her.

"Ah!" she screamed in fear as she jumped back. She started releasing tears from her eyes because of how scared she was from the bear randomly roaring and trying to reach her. Katyusha then chose to run off immediately, for two reasons. One, to keep up with Sasha, and two, to just get away from that bear.

Finally, Katyusha caught up to Sasha. " _Blyad',_ that bear nearly gave me a heart attack…" Katyusha reflected as she dried her tears with her hands. She then saw where Sasha was entering next. "A café?"

Sasha was entering the Petersburg Café, and Katyusha followed as she entered a little later.

She chose to hide behind a promotional sign and watch Sasha from there. Sasha was now at a table as he spoke with a waitress.

"I'll take two slices of cake and two servings of tea with jam," Sasha ordered as he leaned forth and rested his arms on the table.

"Certainly, they'll be here soon," the waitress replied with a kind smile. She then went off to get Sasha's order.

About five seconds later, Sasha saw the same waitress come back with his order. "Man, the service here is almost impossibly quick," he remarked to himself in a bit of amazement as his food was set down on the table.

Katyusha saw Sasha's order from her vantage point. "Seems like he ordered some slices of cake with a couple cups of tea…" she observed. She then pulled out her Sasha Diary to start writing things again. "Current time: fifteen hundred," she began. She then looked up to find Sasha drinking his tea, and her stomach growled in response as she stopped writing. "Grr… snack time…!" she grunted.

She then saw Sasha cut off a piece of cake and bring it up to his mouth. Katyusha's mouth started to water a bit at the sight as she grew even hungrier. When she saw Sasha actually gulp down the piece, she grew extremely jealous of seeing him have food while she didn't, and she started throwing a small tantrum at the sight. She was growling, swinging her arms around, and stomping her feet for a bit.

"No!" she told herself in determination as she stopped. "Just bear it! Bear it!" Katyusha then turned back to continue watching Sasha, but she noticed that Sasha was no longer in his seat. "Huh?" she wondered with confusion.

Sasha was no longer at the table that still had his order resting on it. Instead, he was approaching from behind Katyusha with a small grin that showed off a small portion of his teeth. He first shut the Sasha Diary in Katyusha's hands with his own.

"Fifteen hundred six hours," he began as Katyusha grew an alarmed look after realizing she was discovered. "Enjoyed some tea and cake together with Katyusha. I also ordered Katyusha's share."

Upon hearing that her share was already ordered, Katyusha grew a more excited look driven by her hunger for a snack. "Snack time!" she called out as she and Sasha went over to the blonde Russian ace's table. She got into her chair and started happily eating some cake. Sasha just looked at her with a satisfied grin from across the table in his seat.

There were two more people of note sitting at opposite ends of the café that were secretly watching Sasha and Katyusha. They took pictures periodically with some small cameras they had. These two people were Nonna and Nudelmann, who were apparently spying on the two smaller Russians.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that night in Nonna's room, she, Nudelmann, and Sasha were all gathered around together at her desk. Nonna was in the chair for the desk while the two Russian boys stood at either side of her. All of them were now looking through their recently updated version of the Katyusha Diary.

"So let's see what we've gathered today…" Nonna began as she turned to a blank page. There were several pictures beside the book. Evidently, all of them were taken by Nonna and Nudelmann while they hid along the route Sasha had taken earlier that day.

"There's her hiding behind the corner of the alleyway…" Sasha noted as he taped that picture in the book.

"There's her rushing to get behind the sign…" Nudelmann observed as he stuck that picture in the book as well.

"There's that bear roaring at her…" Nonna noted as she taped that picture in.

"There's also that jump rope catching her…" Nudelmann said as he stuck that picture in.

"Her trying to scale the wall…" Nonna said as she stuck said picture in as well.

"And finally, there's her enjoying some snack time after joining me," Sasha ended as he stuck the final picture into the book.

All of the Russians by now had small grins of satisfaction as they stared at the pictures of Katyusha that they found to be cute.

"Today's 'Katyusha Diary' was truly substantial…" Nonna noted as she chuckled a bit. She had also started writing short descriptions under each picture using a pen. "We've all done great work today, _tovarishchi._ "

XXXXXXXXXX

These Russians have everything laid out in their hands…

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	75. Kapitel 15,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünfzehn: Unternehmen Bekenntnis!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

They're all students in many areas, the freshmen. They all learn their basic school lessons, but they also learn how to fight in the Arts of Warfare, and they also learn how to become experts with love. At least, that last one is what the girls want.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Now then!" Anton began as he stood at the front of the room he and Saori had temporarily acquired. There was a rolling chalkboard behind him written over with various items of romance, and Saori, the writer for said items, was off to the side for the moment. There were a few tables where most of the freshmen for Ooarai's Arts of Warfare programs were seated. All of them were in their school uniforms.

Anton then raised a finger. "Remember that your goal in this is not to kill, but to incapacitate," he began to everyone in the room. He then turned to the side and waved his hand over in a coming forth gesture. "Bring it, Mesut."

Upon receiving the cue from Anton, Mesut, who was off to another side of the chalkboard, charged forth to Anton. The American sophomore got into a ready stance that consisted of him spreading his body out a bit to react to any possible moves. As soon as Mesut got close enough, Anton crouched down and tossed the German freshman over himself via hoisting him by the legs. Mesut ended up falling on his back onto a large gymnastics mat that was laid out in front of the entire chalkboard.

All of the freshmen winced a bit when they saw and heard the thud of Mesut falling onto the mat, but Mesut immediately sprung up again. He wasn't hurt at all because of the cushioning.

Anton then turned to everyone else. "And that, girls," he began, "is one way you can defend yourself from an abusive boyfriend."

After he finished, most everyone started to clap, excluding Saki and Bastian, who remained staring off into space. "Ohhhh…" some of the girls went in admiration. Anton chose to give a slight bow in response, and Mesut also went back to his seat.

"Hey, that was awesome, Mesut!" Matthias complimented with a high-five.

"Yeah!" Christoph agreed. "You took that like a champ!"

"Nice going, Mesut!" Erik congratulated.

"Yeah, I could never withstand something like that," Julius remarked as Mesut took a seat beside him. Their table had him, Bastian, and now Mesut. The other three boys sat at their own table.

"It's not really that bad," Mesut shrugged. "I mean, we already experience similar things in some of our more intense _Fußball_ games."

"Wow, Saori's romance corner is amazing," Azusa remarked with a smile as she wrote a few things down in a notebook at her table. "And they've been awesome ever since Anton and the other boys came in with their training on self-defense."

"They're so amazing, Anton and Saori, even though neither of them have any romantic experience!" Karina remarked next to her in an energetic manner.

"That's what impresses me the most!" Yuuki remarked beside Karina at the other end of the table.

"Hey, isn't tomorrow's study group being held by Captain Nishizumi?" Ayumi wondered at her table, which consisted of her, Aya, and Saki. "And I heard she's bringing _Staffelkapitän_ Hartmann along, too."

"Eh, _more_ tactics theory?" Aya somewhat whined from beside her with a smile. "Well if the both of them are there, then hopefully they'll have some funny moments together that'll stop me from getting bored and falling asleep."

"Now, anyone have any questions?" Anton asked at the front of the room as he clapped a few times to get everyone's attention.

Nobody raised their hand for a bit, but soon, Saki slowly raised hers.

Nobody noticed her at first, and they had already started to get up and leave. But soon enough, Saki's raised hand was noticed and everyone stopped.

"Sa-Saki?!" Karina asked in surprise as everyone started rushing around her in a panic.

"What is it?!" Anton asked her. "Did I scare you at all with that demo?!"

"Wha-What's wrong?!" Azusa asked Saki in concern. "Does your stomach hurt?"

Saki remained silent for a bit as everyone stared at her, awaiting her words in anticipation. The only exception was Bastian, who stared off into space.

Finally, Saki spoke up, "I might… have fallen in love."

All of the girls reacted in various ways. Saori and Aya both recoiled in shock. Aya's glasses ended up breaking again, too, for some odd reason. Azusa had wide eyes and her hands to her mouth in disbelief. Ayumi had her eyes wide and mouth open a bit as she looked on in disbelief. Yuuki grew a dreamy look and held her hands to her face upon hearing Saki. Karina didn't have much of a reaction. She simply held a face that said she didn't understand what just happened.

The guys reacted a bit differently. All of them besides Bastian recoiled back as they held an arm out ahead, as if trying to dispel what just happened. Bastian simply stared off into space again. Anton was unique in that he was using his other arm to cover his face.

"Oh, he won't get past me without getting thrown overboard first!" Anton roared out in anger as he removed his arm from his face. His face was similarly rage-like in appearance. "What kind of fucking womanizer is that bastard?!"

"Anton?!" Azusa reacted in surprise at Anton's actions. The rest of the freshmen there reacted in a similar way via their change of facial expressions to those of panic.

"We're gonna blow him all the way to Timbuktu with the _Acht-Acht!_ " Anton continued in a fit of rage as he stomped the floor. "Where's my phone?! I need to call the other guys to get down here!"

"Uncle, calm down!" Azusa cried out as she rushed forth to hold Anton at bay. She did it by hugging him with her entire body to restrain him. She knew just how much he cared about all of them, such that he would always do everything he could to make sure that he never hurt any of the freshmen, even in such a state as now, so she used that to her advantage by putting herself in a position where if he continued his fit of rage, then he would end up hurting her.

Meanwhile, some of the other freshmen were looking on at Azusa's current efforts with somewhat panicked looks. Some of them, mainly the boys, were holding back Saori and keeping her from falling into a similar state that Anton was currently in. The other freshmen remaining were with Saki.

"Are you okay, Saki?" Ayumi asked nervously with concern. "You don't have a fever, do you?"

"Who is it?" Yuuki asked with her dreamy look. "Is it somebody from shore?"

XXXXXXXXXX

 _(Azusa: Um, hey there, everyone! Sorry for the interruption, but after reviewing it, what happened after that point in time was considered to be unsafe and disturbing to view, so that scene was cut out. But rest assured, we eventually managed to calm down Anton, and we collected some information from Saki about who she met. Every morning, she takes a rest in the park along her route to school to gaze at the scenery. That seems to be what Saki does everyday.)_

Earlier during one of her rests, Saki was sitting down with her bag beside her on a long rise of stone that served as a bench. She was currently staring off into space again, but she also had a small bird in her hand that decided to land there for whatever reason. She listened to all of the birdcalls around the area, including those from the one in her hand as she relaxed for the moment.

 _(Azusa: And on one particular day…)_

Saki then heard some footsteps approach. She looked over to find someone jogging in her direction. They appeared to be jogging for exercise. Their outfit consisted of a red and black hoodie with the hood up, some black sweatpants, and white sneakers. There were headphones coming out from one of the hoodie's pockets up to the hood itself, where they presumably went into the person's ears.

As the person reached her, they slowed down as they came out of their jog. "Mornin'!" they greeted in what sounded like an American male voice. Said guy could barely be recognized with the hood over his head, but he had a slightly noticeable grin with a bit of sweat running down his face.

 _(Azusa: She was suddenly called out…)_

The boy then took out his earbuds, which were playing a very specific song very loudly as they hung down, as he took a seat beside Saki. "I brought some coffee," the boy offered as he set a thermos out in the space between them. "Want some?"

" _In an abandoned land!_  
 _Come on in child, take my hand!_ "

"So what are you looking at?" he asked as he continued to sit next to Saki. "Is it fine if I sit here with you?"

" _Hear a rising force!_ "

"Wow," the boy went as he looked on at the scenery. He then looked over to Saki. "I didn't know that it could be so relaxing to just gaze at the scenery."

" _Watch the devils, the damned!_  
 _They're gonna break their chains!_ "

Saki looked back to him, somewhat in curiosity, as she appeared to look for something to say to him.

" _Through the night!_  
 _You can hear them_ "

XXXXXXXXXX

"You know what?" Anton began with a gloomy deadpan. "I think I'm gonna go space off in parks too from now on and just gaze at the scenery all fucking day because why the hell not. What else could go wrong…"

Some of the freshmen there started to sweat a bit nervously as they saw Anton in his current state of gloom. All of the boys ended rushing over to him in concern, except for Bastian, who held his normal spacing off look.

"Hey, snap out of it Anton!" Matthias tried to get Anton to snap out of his state as he shook him. Some of the other boys there began to do the same.

"Taciturn charas, huh…" Saori spoke up in revelation with a gloomy grin of her own. Her glasses were no longer being worn. She then slumped her shoulders a bit. "I was completely unobservant of that group… That's it. I won't say anything anymore. That way, I, too, will become popular starting tomorrow…" She then started chuckling a bit at her idea, which by comparison to everyone else, made her start looking insane.

"Uncle! Mama!" Azusa tried to snap Anton and Saori out of their states. "Wait, no. Anton and Saori! Please come back to us!" she revised as she made fists with her hands in a begging manner.

In the meantime, Karina was talking with Saki. "Saki, that's awesome!" she said with her usual energy. "Did you start to like that boy after that?"

"… I don't know," Saki soon responded after a short silence. Karina didn't appear to understand the meaning behind those words, but at least one person did.

"I can understand those complicated feelings, though," Azusa spoke up as she reasoned with Saori, who had started to grow a bit intrigued by hearing Azusa speak. "So shouldn't we give some aid here to Saki's love?"

At hearing Azusa's latest suggestion, Saori grew a huge glint in her eyes as she lit up with an idea. The sheer amount of glint she had in her eyes was enough to snap Anton out of his gloominess and look to her with a bit of interest as his raised eyebrow indicated.

"That's exactly right!" Saori proclaimed as she whipped out her glasses again to wear them. "You can rest at ease, Saki! I, Saori Takebe, Ooarai's master of romance, will bring your romance to fulfillment!"

Everyone looked over to Saori with mixed reactions as she spoke. Saki looked over to Saori with her usual spacing off look. Ayumi and Yuuki seemed like they were ready to carry out Saori's current plan. Aya had a slight look of disbelief at what was going on. Karina looked completely lost on the current plan. Azusa just held an awkward smile at what was happening.

The boys all looked to each other and sighed simultaneously as they slumped their shoulders a bit in resignation for what they were going to effectively be forced to do.

"A master of romance with absolutely no experience, though…" Anton muttered after hearing Saori's proclamation.

XXXXXXXXXX

And so Saori started up a training regiment for Saki to get her romance on.

"Straighten up your back and walk with elegance!" Saori instructed Saki.

For whatever reason, Saori had a crop in hand, which gave her a vibe similar to that of a drill sergeant. Saki now had a book on her head that she had to keep balanced, which could only be accomplished with proper posture.

"Refine your table manners!" Saori instructed again.

Saki was now sitting down and eating a meal. She did so with a proper sitting posture along with elegant table manners, never once making a mess of any kind.

"Both tea and flowers are a maiden's taste!" Saori instructed yet again.

Now, Saki was in a robe with a cup of tea in one hand as she picked a flower with her other hand from the nearby garden. Said garden apparently belonged to Hana.

"Most important for romance is stamina!" Saori instructed later on.

Now, she and the other freshmen girls were in some jogging outfits that consisted of dark blue sweatpants and a similarly colored long-sleeve jacket.

"Rom, acti! Rom, acti!" Saori commanded as she continued running while waving around a _bokken_ in a way to encourage continuation. She was ahead of everyone else, which included Saki and the rest of the freshmen girls.

"Why us too…" Aya whined as she started getting tired. Some of the other girls were getting tired as well.

A little behind them were all of the freshmen boys plus Anton, all in similar jogging outfits, who purposely hung back so as to motivate some of those tired girls in a unique way.

"Come on!" Anton barked as he swung a whip ahead of him and let it crack through the air. "You haven't earned a rest yet, so keep running!"

The other freshmen boys also had whips of their own that they used in the same way to keep all of the girls moving. Although they weren't long enough to reach the girls, the motivation factor of hearing the cracking of whips was more than enough to keep the girls moving.

XXXXXXXXXX

Finally, Saori's romance training regiment was completed, and Saori herself was proudly standing atop a table looking down on Saki in front of her. Both were back in their school outfits. Saori still had a _bokken_ that she rested on the table as she leaned on the handle.

Most of the girls that had run with them were still in their jogging outfits as they tried regaining their breath. The only girls that weren't tired were Saori, Saki, and Azusa. Azusa wasn't in the room now for some reason.

All of the boys that came along were standing off to the side watching. They had all changed back into their school uniforms, too. None of them were worn out at all.

"You have come along well, Saki!" Saori said to Saki with some proudness within her. "There's almost nothing else that I need to teach to you!"

"Normally I would say that there's nothing more to do but to attack, but…" Anton began from the side. "Saki…" he continued with a gentler voice. Saki looked to him in response. "Could you at least smile a bit more?"

Saki seemed to think about Anton's suggestion before she started using her hands to mess with her face a bit so she could get a smile on it.

"Yeah, Saki is so cool!" Karina praised as she saw Saki try to smile.

"Yeah, that's it!" Saori praised as well. "The smiling face a cool girl sometimes shows! That's a real strong point! Even a trump card!"

"But Saki smiles pretty often, though," Christoph said to Anton as the guys stood with each other.

"Wait, what?" Anton reacted in a bit of surprise as he turned to Christoph. "Are you for real?"

"Nice going, Saki," Azusa began with a kind smile as she came back into the room with a tray of food in hand. "I brought kintsuba and the kelp tea that Saki loves for refreshments."

Seeing the food made Saki smile a bit, which caught both Saori and Anton off guard.

"Ah, there it is!" Christoph remarked on Saki's smile.

"Good God, this is the first time I've ever seen this…" Anton said in disbelief as he looked on.

"Stop!" Saori called out as she held a hand out to Saki in a halt gesture. By now, Saki had started eating some of the kintsuba she was given. "Saki, stay just like that! Stay that way until you meet him again tomorrow!"

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning then came around, and all that was remarkable about it were chirping birds, a still-smiling Saki, and a load of freshmen girls with two more sophomores all gathered together. Everyone had their school outfits on.

"So this moment has come at last!" Saori proclaimed as she clenched a fist in determination. She didn't have her glasses on anymore.

"You gave your best, Saki!" Karina cheered on Saki.

"So she kept that face on ever since she put it on yesterday, even during meals and baths…" Azusa observed in a mixture of disbelief and wonder.

"Saki, did you write the love letter?" Saori asked as she turned to Saki. In response, Saki flipped out a letter with her name on it sealed with a heart sticker. "Great!" Saori responded with a satisfied nod.

"Alright, prepare yourselves boys," Anton said to the freshmen boys who had recently arrived. The boys were all near the bushes, and they all had their _Maschinenpistolen_ 40 from the survival fight they had earlier in the year. "The time to fight is near."

"Understood," Matthias replied affirmative for all of them. They all then got set up and hidden away in the nearby shrubbery.

Anton then pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Hello, _Bubi?_ " he began another call. "You and Miho set up yet?"

"Wow, Anton's level of power now is just amazing…" Azusa remarked as she stared at Anton with a bit of a nervous smile at his current actions.

"He's the kind of person who cares more about helping others than about himself," Yuuki observed.

"Yeah," Azusa nodded slowly. "But why are the boys armed…?" she asked with her same nervous smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere on the ship was where two particular armed vehicles were stationed. The _Panzer_ IV H commanded by Miho was positioned in some woods nearby, and they had a line of sight on the location of the freshmen. Said line of sight extended to be about 800 meters give or take. The _Panzer_ was heavily concealed by quite a bit of shrubbery. Each crew member was sticking up through their hatches as they waited. The only missing crew member was Saori, who was with the freshmen. All of them had their usual school outfits on.

XXXXXXXXXX

At another overwatch position farther away rested the _8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl._ The heavy halftrack was placed atop a hill, and the heavy Flak gun had an immensely long line of sight as a result. It was about 2,000 meters give or take from the gun to the freshmen. The lines of sight for the two vehicles were such that they formed a ninety-degree angle when they met at the freshmen.

On the _Acht-Acht,_ the crew consisted of all the normal operators for it minus Kolari and Satiainen. Replacing Anton in the passenger seat for the moment was Erich, who was currently on his phone. All had their normal school outfits.

"Yeah, I'm at the specified point," Erich confirmed to Anton over the line. He also wore a headset for the radio in the FAMO. "Let me see if Miho is at hers."

He then set his phone aside for the moment as he fiddled with the radio.

XXXXXXXXXX

Over on her Panzer IV, Miho was currently looking around at random things as she and her crew waited around. Soon, she had a message come over her headphones.

" _Hey, Miholein,_ " she heard Erich through her headset. " _You set up?_ "

"Oh!" she reacted as she came back to Earth. She then realized what happened and started to reply. "Yeah, we're set up over here. But… is something gonna happen after this?"

" _I have no clue what's going on right now, so I can't tell you,_ " she heard Erich respond. She then heard his voice again, but she could tell he wasn't addressing her. " _Yeah, we're set up, Anton._ "

"Hmm…" Miho hummed in thought as she lowered her head. "Well since Anton is the reason for this, then I wonder if Saori also has a part in this…"

Because Saori wasn't there to operate the radio, Miho had rigged it so that it always diverted the input and output signals directly to her headset. The radio was also permanently on the same channel as the radio in the _Acht-Acht,_ that way she didn't have to have a radio operator for the moment since Saori was gone. It also worked out since she didn't have any other forces to communicate with besides the FAMO, which made such an arrangement more convenient.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Wait, why is there a tank and a Flak gun on standby?!" Azusa asked in shock of hearing that the _Panzer_ IV and _Acht-Acht_ were already pre-sighted on their position. She then remembered all of the freshmen boys with their MP 40s. "And why are the boys all armed?!"

"If that guy happens to be a dirty bastard of a womanizer…" Anton mischievously began with a dastardly grin as he drew out the M240B he used in the survival fight. Upon seeing him bring out the general-purpose machine gun, all of the girls there besides Saki started shaking in fear at the implications of what was going to happen. "Then he'll have to suffer the concentrated wrath of the school that won the International Arts of Warfare Tournaments!"

Julius was up in one of the trees for the moment as he played the lookout role. He then soon spotted the same jogger that Saki had spoken of approach from afar. He wore the same outfit as before, but he had a notable absence of headphones.

"Hey, he's coming!" Julius alerted the rest.

"Alright boys! Lock and load!" Anton ordered as he hid with the other boys in the shrubbery. All of them then flicked off their safeties and readied their weapons.

"Girls, hide! Saki, follow the plan! It's time to fight!" Saori ordered the rest of the girls. The rest of the girls besides Saki then rushed to hide away in the bushes while Saki stayed where she was on the long stone rise serving as a bench.

The jogger soon came close to where Saki was, and he came to a stop there when he recognized her.

"Ah, mornin'!" he greeted with a grin as he started to fan himself. He sounded exhausted from his running. "Man, it's starting to get hot as of late, isn't it?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Everyone else was watching the scene play out from the bushes. All of the girls besides Azusa held their attention on what was going on with Saki. The boys were all watching and waiting for the moment to attack. Anton was on his phone again with a cold look on his face.

" _Bubi,_ " he began over the line. "Once I give the signal, you and Miho are gonna shell that guy, and we'll start our own attack afterwards."

" _Hääää?!_ " he could hear Miho's shocked voice over the line. Supposedly, he guessed it was because Erich had the FAMO's radio headset on while he was on the line with him. " _Why?!_ "

"You're not planning to shoot him even if he does nothing, right…?" Azusa asked from beside Anton with some nervousness in her voice. She was nervous because of the fact that there was a planned assault on the guy already in place, even though he seemed innocent enough already to her.

" _Verstanden,_ " Erich responded in a clear voice that held some coldness to it as well. Both Anton and Azusa could tell he had entered his commander persona. " _We'll annihilate him._ "

Anton grew a satisfied and dastardly grin that showed some teeth upon hearing that Erich was on the same page as him. Azusa, however, started looking extremely fearful upon hearing that her captain's boyfriend was also fully supportive of eliminating the boy Saki had met.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Good morning," Saki kindly greeted the jogger she ran into earlier with her smile still on her face.

"Whoa…" the jogger went as he raised his eyebrows in wonder upon hearing Saki's voice. His heart thumping became even more noticeable amidst the brief silence that came about.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the bushes, Anton could see what was going on, and he grew a look of rage as he calmly spoke over his phone. " _Bubi,_ you and Miho can fire at will," he ordered.

"Anton?!" Azusa reacted in shock from beside him as she looked to him with a similar facial expression of shock and terror. She then lunged toward him in desperation. "No! Don't fire!" she cried so as to be heard over his phone by Erich. Her lunge ended up having her effectively hugging onto him again.

Nearby, Christoph was staring on at the scene of Saki and the jogger for a moment in thought before he lit up in recognition. "Hey, I recognize that guy!" he claimed. "That's…!"

XXXXXXXXXX

With Saki and the jogger, the jogger finally revealed his face as he brought his hood down.

"Wow, that has to be the first time I've heard your voice, Saki," Seth Farnborough remarked with an interested look. "Considering you're always rather quiet."

"Aaaah!" the two of them heard as rustling of the bushes and shrubbery nearby flared up. Out of the shrubbery came the rest of the freshmen girls, Saori, all of the freshmen boys, and Anton. They all dramatically fell out onto the ground ahead.

"What the hell?!" Seth remarked with a start as he looked over to the commotion. He did not miss the fact that half of those that had fallen over were armed. "What's with that drop-shot way of falling over?!"

Saki didn't respond to the current scene at all as she held her smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _(Azusa: It seems like the relationship those two had before had continued on unchanged.)_

After the mess with the freshmen was sorted out, Seth and Saki continued to sit down and gaze at the scenery like before.

 _(Azusa: Seth happened to smile then, and he didn't appear to notice it.)_

The two of them held content smiles as they let the sounds of nature flow around them. Seth had a red face from the exercise he had done earlier. Said exercise was also what caused his heart to thump as it tried to circulate even more blood and precious oxygen to his body.

 _(Azusa: Saki seems to be fine with just sitting in that park together to pass the time.)_

XXXXXXXXXX

"Tha-That's right!" Saori agreed later in the present as she waved a hand around. "For Saki to suddenly get called out by a boy, it's still too early for those things!"

She and the other freshmen were with each other again as they chatted at a table. Among those there was also Anton, who was relaxing as he drank a can of soda. He didn't speak up at all for the moment. He was just there to see if he could relax and just forget about the previous incident.

"That's right," Yuuki agreed. She then brought a hand to her face. "That said, my new boyfriend-"

"Does he even exist?" Aya cut her off as she looked over to her with a look of doubt.

"What should I do?" Yuuki ignored her and continued to Saori. "I'm gonna get into big trouble…"

Hearing what Yuuki said made Anton slam his can down with a start. He then started to grow a really dark look.

"Um… Anton?" Azusa asked in a bit of fear as the girls drew their attention to him.

In response, Anton drew his M240 again and flicked the safety off of it. He had it slung over onto his back before, but none of the girls really paid it any mind before that current moment.

"Oh, uh oh…" Azusa reacted as she started to sweat at what seemed to be implied by his actions. "Maybe it's time for Operation Counter-Rambo…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, the freshmen boys were off with each other discussing various things.

"Oh, is that true?" Christoph wondered. "Saki's face didn't go back to normal yet?"

"No, it didn't," Matthias confirmed with a head shake.

"Wow, that's real odd…" Mesut commented.

"Bunch of crazy girls, if you ask me," Erik opined.

"I can't argue with that," Julius shrugged.

Bastian meanwhile just stared off into space. But he soon spoke up, "… _Diese Mädchen sind lustig._ "

All of the other boys looked over to him in surprise at first. Because they rarely hear him speak, hearing him speak was something to experience for them. But they soon started laughing when they processed his statement, as they couldn't agree more with it.

XXXXXXXXXX

It seems that spring for these freshmen girls is still far away as long as their Uncle Rambo is still around.

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _The music belongs to_** **Sabaton.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	76. Kapitel 15,5,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünfzehn: Extra Drei_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Es ist das Anglerfisch-Festkrieg!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Jeez, how do I use this thing?" Anton muttered to himself as he fiddled with something. He was currently visible only through the lens of a camera. He was way up close to the camera, such that one of his hazel eyes was visible in clear detail to the lens.

Soon enough, on came a blinking light that blinked in sync with a beeping sound. "Ah, there it is!" Anton quickly observed. He quickly turned around and dashed back a bit to some other people. All that was noticeable at the moment was that all of them wore the normal Ooarai school uniform.

"Hey, get ready! Get ready!" he quickly beckoned them as the camera started to beep faster. Shuffling could be heard as people hastily got into their positions, and then the camera snapped a picture.

The picture taken was that of ten specific people that had a banner above and behind them. On one end was the distinct Ooarai insignia, and to the right written across the whole banner was a message that read, 'Congratulations on the international victory, Ooarai High School!'

In front of said banner were ten particular people with all of the boys of the group on one side and the girls on the other. On each of the edges looking like they were indifferent to the camera were David and Mako, left and right respectively. Beside each of them closer to the center were Nathan and Yukari, both giving off enthusiastic salutes to the camera. Next to those two respectively were Herz and Hana both giving polite smiles. Closer to the center were Anton and Saori, both with smiles and holding onto a shoulder of either Erich or Miho respectively, as if emphasizing that they were the centerpieces. In the center of the whole picture were Erich and Miho. Erich was behind with his hands on Miho's shoulders as the both of them held smiles at the camera.

XXXXXXXXXX

Everywhere in Ooarai City was packed full of people. For what reason was yet unknown for sure, but everyone appeared to be festive. The place where the picture had been taken was in front of Ooarai Station, where plenty of people were also around.

"I had heard about how the commemorative victory banner was at the station, but I'm glad we finally got to take a pic with it!" Saori remarked with a satisfied smile as she held a camera in hand. It was the same one used to take the picture of the group. Said group was now together elsewhere at the station.

"Yeah, and there's even cool stuff like this," Erich agreed as he looked over to another banner that Yukari had brought over. The banner itself had the writing, 'Celebrating Ooarai High School, congratulations on the victory!' The banner was also primarily blue and had the Ooarai insignia on it, but the banner was a slightly different shade from the Ooarai insignia's blue so as to distinguish the insignia more. There was also at the bottom a side view picture of a _Panzer_ IV H, and at the top was a side view picture of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4. The _Messer_ was positioned such that it appeared to be in a dive.

"Oh, wow…" Miho awed a bit at the banner. She then started to blush a bit as she grew an embarrassed smile. "This is kinda embarrassing…"

"Ah, but this is only the beginning, Lady Nishizumi!" Yukari told her as she held the banner for the moment.

"But still, this is an extreme amount of people that showed up here," Herz remarked as he looked around the area.

"Well that's to be expected," Anton remarked close by. He now had a piece of paper that he was pulling out. "After all, today _is_ the Ooarai Anglerfish Festival!"

The paper Anton held out was a flyer for the Ooarai Anglerfish Festival. Such activities involved included a dancing festival where everyone within would perform the Anglerfish Dance, a chef filleting an anglerfish still on the hook, and a live performance of the _Panzer Five._

Miho took the flyer for a moment as she scanned it. She started to grow a happy smile as she saw everything that was within the festival. "Wow, this is _amazing!_ " she observed.

Erich also took a peek at the flyer from over her shoulder, and he grew an interested smile as he looked at it. "Wow, this is quite the festival, huh?" he remarked. "First time I've seen such things here."

"And this year," Saori began with a proud smile as she raised a finger, "it's much more lively than usual thanks to us!"

"Ah, is that so?" Erich wondered as he turned his head to meet Saori's gaze. "I never thought it was because of _us._ "

"Of course it is, eh!" Nathan responded with an enthusiastic look. "The local team was revived and became the overall victors in a world tournament! Of course something like that would make big news!"

"This was originally a place for sightseers," Mako remarked with a small grin. "But it seems like the amount of visitors here has only increased after this place got on the headlines for the Arts of Warfare."

"Yeah, and it's splendid how the city thought about trying to contribute to the increase in popularity of the area, even with their limited power," David continued with a slight grin.

"That's true," Herz agreed. "It appears that various collaborations have been started up throughout the city."

"Oh!" Saori started with some widened eyes that displayed eagerness to them. "So does that mean a lot of fans of our school are thronging the crowd throughout the area?" She then brought her hands to her cheeks as she started growing a dreamy look. "Oh, my! What should I do if someone proposes to me?!"

Nearby, a bus drove by. Said bus had decorations on its side. There was a drawing of a KwK 40-armed _Panzer_ IV along the bottom section where there weren't any windows. Covering one of the windows was a vinyl of a late-model Bf 109, shown in planform view. Numerous people started to take pictures of it as it passed, and Saori turned to them in response.

"I don't know. They all seem to be absorbed by all the collaborations, no?" Hana countered Saori with.

"Hey, let's all go look at something else," Miho suggested with an awkward smile.

Why she had such a smile was because Saori now had a scrunched-up face that displayed her displeasure with Hana's comment. She was also upset with the fact that such a comment was true anyway, despite her not wanting it to be true. "Oh, screw you…" Saori muttered.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the group chose to swing by another area of the now festive city. The area they were now had some parked cars, but none that were driving around. Over this area was a sign that said, 'Welcome to Ooarai!'

"Ah, so the city's now a car-free place!" Miho observed as the group entered the area.

"Yeah," Saori nodded in agreement. "Since they're holding exhibitions for _itasha_ and other stuff!"

"Uh…" Erich began in confusion as he raised a finger. "… What was that word you said?"

"Oh, _itasha?_ " Saori asked him as she turned to face him.

"Yeah, that," Erich nodded affirmative.

Saori then rolled her eyes a bit in exasperation. "Man, you _really_ need to get some Japanese under your belt, _Bubi,_ " she remarked as she crossed her arms. "I mean, _this,_ " she emphasized by holding a hand out in gesturing to him, "is just ridiculous for someone living in Ooarai now."

Erich rolled his own eyes in good nature. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it some day," he waved off. "But anyway, what are those things?"

"Well, to answer your question," Yukari began. "Broadly speaking, an _itasha_ is a car that has pictures attached to it. Though almost all of them are just remodeled cars."

"Ah, really?" Miho wondered as she looked around for a bit. She then pointed in a particular direction where she had spotted something. "Because there's a _Panzer_ IV over there."

"Yes, of course," Yukari waved in agreement. "Cars that use our _Panzerkampfwagen_ IV as a motive are also-Wait, there's a _Panzer_ IV for real?!" She changed gears as she was looking around the area when she suddenly spotted what she recognized as a _Panzer_ IV.

But this _Panzer_ IV was far smaller and oddly proportioned with respect to a real _Panzer_ IV. Also, the driver's vision slot and the hull machine gun were on opposite sides, where the driver's area was instead on the right side. Besides those discrepancies, it looked much like Ooarai's _Panzer_ IV H, even going so far as to have the _Schürzen_ and the specific decals and camouflage on Ooarai's model.

"Are you serious right now," Erich deadpanned as the group approached the ' _Panzer_ IV.' He then shook his head slowly. "I'll never understand Japanese culture."

"It looks like the city made this by remodeling a light truck," Miho observed as she held a somewhat awe-filled smile. Many of those around her were either looking on with some admiration at the recreation, or they were looking at it in disbelief.

"Man, they have such enthusiasm…" Anton remarked with some disbelief.

Nathan started looking around elsewhere in the meantime, and he quickly found another interesting thing. "Oh! Over there's a _Messer!_ " he excitedly pointed out.

He had noticed another vehicle that appeared extremely similar to Ooarai's Bf 109 K-4, but it was highly miniaturized. It was detailed such that it perfectly represented the Ooarai 109 in every regard except for size, but there was noticeably a chain that went around the tail wheel and back into the fuselage via the tail wheel's clamshell doors.

The others looked over to it and just stared at it in silence for a bit with disbelieving looks.

"… Okay, now how do they even _make_ such things like _that?_ " Erich wondered as he gestured to the 'Bf 109.' "What, do they just take a tricycle, make it bigger, and then put on a fancy frame?"

He then felt a tug on his jacket. He turned to find Miho had done the tug, and she was now pointing down the street they were all on. Parked along the street were various cars and other vehicles all configured the same way to represent the entirety of Ooarai's vehicles.

Erich just looked on in silence for a bit with a blank look as he comprehended the sight. "... You know what? Forget it," he finally spoke up as he started to shake his head. "I've had enough of this weird Japanese stuff for one day," he ended as he walked off somewhere else.

Miho just awkwardly laughed as she nervously rubbed her ear. She then looked over to the girls of the group. "Sorry about that," she apologized.

"Eh," Saori waved off with a hand with an unoffended smile. "Don't worry about it. I think we've come to expect that by now from him."

"In the meantime," Hana politely interjected with a raised hand, "how about we take a look at the rest of the _itasha?_ "

Miho nodded with a happier smile. "Sounds good," she accepted.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later, the combined group currently missing Erich had reached the end of the line of _itasha,_ and two people were looking pretty pumped with energy still.

"Man, walking around a city with such a great mood on warfare is sheer bliss, eh!" Nathan opined with some energy still within from seeing all the recreated vehicles earlier.

"Yeah…" Saori replied a bit awkwardly as she glanced beside her. Both Nathan and Yukari, the two most obsessed with anything related to the military, were marching onwards by Saori's side still full of energy from the recreations. Behind them was the rest of the group. "Who knew that the city would get dyed in a monochrome of war…" She then turned her head back forward and spotted Erich nearby. "Oh, hey _Bubi,_ " she greeted with a smile.

Erich, however, did not respond as he stared on ahead with a calm grin.

"Huh?" Saori blinked in confusion upon not seeing him respond to her. "Is something wrong, _Bubi?_ "

What happened next caught her off guard greatly. Another Erich popped out from behind the one she had just spoken to.

"You called?" he asked with a grin. He also had a plate of kebabs and corn dogs in one hand, and he currently had a single kebab in the other.

"Eeeeeh, there's two _Bubis?!_ " Saori reacted in surprise as she stumbled back a bit. The rest of the group noticed as well.

"Man, looks like food expenses are starting to pile up already…" Anton remarked as he observed the food Erich had gotten. Erich had by now eaten up his current kebab completely.

"Oh, don't mind this guy here," Erich gestured as he shook around the other Erich a bit with his current free hand. The other Erich was in fact a cutout. "It's just a cutout I found in the storefront." He then looked from side to side for a bit to observe their current street. "And from the looks of things, you can now meet any one of the Arts of Warfare members via just looking to the storefronts."

"O-Oh, so that's what that was…" Saori realized with an awkward smile. She had by now recovered from her surprise of seeing two Erichs earlier. "If they're doing it with every single member, then the number of those stores collaborating in this must be pretty high. It sounds like it'd be almost impossible to see all of them in just one day, wouldn't it?"

"Well, why don't we get started on seeing them?" Miho suggested with a bright smile.

Everyone else looked to each other for a little bit before they all shrugged. "Eh, alright," they all responded.

And so all of them walked off again throughout the city looking at various storefronts for anyone that looked familiar to them. Upon spotting one particular cutout, Erich nudged Miho a bit. Miho looked over to him and saw him point off at one storefront. She followed his finger to find that said storefront had a cutout of her in front of it, and she grew an embarrassed blush and looked away as a result of seeing it. Erich snorted in amusement at seeing her reaction.

"Ah, speaking of these storefronts," Anton began as he turned around to walk backwards while still facing the rest of the group. "You all remember that store, Sakanaya Honten? One of Pravda's fighters crashed into it, didn't it?"

"Oh, yeah," Saori nodded in agreement. "There was also one of Saint Gloriana's tanks that crashed into it during our first practice fight, and then later one of Pravda's tanks got stuck under the rubble from that Pravda fighter that crashed into it."

"Well, damn, I didn't know _that,_ " Anton responded with raised eyebrows of intrigue. "I wonder what's become of it since then." He then spotted something nearby. "Oh, hey! Look at that!" He then led off the other guys to the place that caught his interest.

All of the girls looked on at them for a little bit in silence before Miho spoke up, "So… you all still want to head over to Sakanaya Honten?"

"That sounds nice," Hana opined with a polite smile.

Saori shrugged. "Yeah, sure," she accepted. "I guess we'll meet up with them later."

The girls then continued on to the store they were looking for, but Saori soon suddenly stopped when she saw the storefront itself. "A tank crashed into it _again?!_ " she reacted in surprise and disbelief.

Sure enough, there was something that looked very much like a Matilda II in front of the store. But Miho looked closer to inspect it better, and she soon shook her head.

"No, that's not it," she revealed. "It's just an extra large cutout."

"Oh…" Saori reacted with realization.

Miho also observed a couple of people having some tea there, as well. They were seated at a table as they had their drinks. They looked pretty familiar to her, as well. "But that being said," Miho continued. "Those people having tea are…"

XXXXXXXXXX

At said table having tea for the moment were Saint Gloriana's two Arts of Warfare commanders, Darjeeling and Arthur. Both wore their normal school outfits at the moment.

"Spending tea time in Ooarai holds a certain class to it, doesn't it?" Arthur remarked after lowering his cup a bit.

"That's true," Darjeeling agreed. "By the way, do you happen to know of this…" she began as she turned her head to a voice she had heard and recognized. But she then blinked in confusion. "Oh?"

Why Darjeeling was so confused was because she thought she had heard Miho's voice nearby, but she had turned to and instead found Anton. In reality, it was just a cutout of him, though Darjeeling wasn't able to recognize that fact.

"Oh, I had thought that I heard Miho's voice, but it was just you," Darjeeling remarked with a bit of an awkward smile.

"Yo, what's goin' on?" a voice responded from behind the cutout as an arm waved from behind it. The voice sounded like it was trying to imitate an American accent. The cutout itself was shaking a bit, and a few other articles of clothing were visible from behind it.

Darjeeling still held an awkward smile as she looked on at the cutout as if it was a real person. "I wonder if he was the one commanding that bloody eighty-eight?" she whispered with a tinge of displeasure in her voice that was the result of her brooding at the sight of the one that commanded the vehicle that took down two of her tanks in quick succession with ease, but her face did not show that.

"Who knows for sure?" Arthur responded, having heard her. "It's been some time since we've come to see the people of Ooarai." Arthur then turned and waved at the cutout of Anton that was by now starting to get away. "Well, please give our regards to your school's commanders!"

A salute was sprung from one of the arms behind in response. Behind the cutout of Anton were the five girls of _Anglerfish_ Team. All of them were hiding behind it, and all besides Mako had nervous sweats as they tried to move backward without compromising their hiding.

Finally, all of them managed to get out of sight of the two British tea-drinkers, and they all breathed a sigh of relief as they got out of their forced hiding spot.

"Why did we hide from them?" Miho wondered.

"Somehow I felt that it would have taken a long time if we simply walked in as ourselves…" Saori said with a look of relief.

"Yeah, and Anton's cutout just happened to be in a convenient place," Hana remarked.

At this time, Mako also spotted with a start the real Anton coming up behind them all. He didn't look very happy with the girls at the moment. In fact, he looked a bit pissed with them. The rest of the guys were behind him with highly amused looks.

"Hey, do you mind?" Anton spoke up to announce his presence, and all of the girls turned to him with varying nervousness on their faces. He beckoned for the cutout of him, and Hana quickly handed it over. Anton then walked off with some force to his steps.

"Right, that one's from Eguchi-Yuushindou right across the street…" Yukari informed with a nervous grin.

"Yeah, we can't just go and use it for our own reasons…" Miho figured with her own nervous smile.

"Well, I for one greatly enjoyed seeing how you girls used it," Erich opined with his highly amused grin. "It was _hilarious._ "

Miho still held her nervous grin before she got an idea, and her face then started to change into a more mischievous grin. "Oh, is that so…" she said to Erich in a tone he could tell was purposely sweet.

He raised his eyebrows a bit at the sudden change in her attitude. " _Hä?_ " he wondered as he raised an eyebrow in confusion at her current demeanor.

"Well, I just happen to know of something that I find to be _so Urkomisch,_ " Miho elaborated as she slowly circled around him with a teasing finger dragging along his torso and upper back. She also had a grin that said she was greatly enjoying what she was planning for Erich. As she came to a stop at his right side, she suddenly took hold of his ear.

" _Autsch, autsch, autsch, autsch!_ " Erich reacted when he was forcibly pulled along by the ear yet again.

Miho giggled at the reaction as she dragged him along by force. "See? I told you it was funny!" she said with her same smile that displayed just how much she was enjoying the current situation.

In the meantime, everyone else stared on at them walking off. They had looks that clearly showed just how strange they thought the two of them were.

"So…" Herz began. "Are we going to stick with them or let them do their own thing?"

"Eh…" Saori went as she thought a bit. She soon came up with something. "I guess we can stick with them. They don't seem to be 'in the mood,'" she quoted with her fingers, "right now, if you know what I mean."

"No, I _don't_ know what you mean," Mako responded in a deadpan.

Saori grew a scrunched up face of annoyance hearing Mako purposely deny understanding her words, and she chose to not respond to her attempt at teasing her as she chose to walk on alone. Anton snorted in amusement at what Mako implied, and some others held amused grins. The rest of the group soon started walking again to catch up with Saori.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later after strolling around and seeing various other places, the large group of ten then came to the space in front of the Ooarai Marine Tower, which was the gathering area for the main event of the festival. It was currently crowded with many, many people.

"Man, seems like there's many times the city's normal population here, eh…" Nathan observed. He and the others from his group were in the far back of the area where the crowd had gathered. "Trying to break through that iron wall of a crowd would be a horrible idea."

"There should be a stage up there, but I can't see it from here…" Erich voiced as he stood on his tiptoes to try and see over the crowd. But he wasn't able to because of both his slightly shorter than average height along with just how many people were in between him and the stage.

Miho was also trying to get a look at the stage, but she wasn't succeeding, either. She grunted a bit in dissatisfaction before she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. "Huh?" she wondered as she turned towards what she saw.

She had spotted a bungee trampoline nearby that was currently having a kid strapped into it. After getting settled in, the kid then started to jump on the trampoline below, and he used the bungee cords to aid his jumping height, which grew to be tremendous.

Miho looked at the bungee trampoline jump in awe. "Oh, that looks fun!" she awed with a bright awe-struck smile. "What's that?"

"That's a bungee trampoline," David informed from nearby in his usual monotone. "It looks like with that, you can jump about eight meters high."

Erich heard David, and he soon grew an idea if his growing smile indicated anything. He then started over to David. "Hey David," he said as he got his attention. He then beckoned him to follow. "How about a recon flight?"

"What?" David wondered. He was confused by what Erich had asked, but he followed him anyway.

XXXXXXXXXX

"… Wait, what?" David hesitantly asked again a bit later, but he now did so with a blank look. His dark brown, almost black, eyes appeared to be devoid of anything besides dread. He was now strapped into the bungee trampoline.

"Go see what's happening on stage!" Erich said to him from a railing to the side of the bungee trampoline. The rest of the group was gathered there, and most of them held smiles of encouragement for David. Some were mixed with awkward smiles, like with Miho and Hana. Mako, however, did not offer encouragement with her blank look, but her look was mixed with a slightly sympathetic look for David, as she understood very well why he was hesitating now.

"No, hold on a minute," David said in hesitation with fear in his eyes and nervous sweat drops coming down his head. He tried walking towards them, which served to also stretch and tension up the bungee cords.

"You've got a keen eye, don't you David?" Anton called out with encouragement in his voice and on his face. "And you're light, so you're perfect for this!"

"Take-off permission granted for reconnaissance flight, eh!" Nathan enthusiastically encouraged.

"But I'm not good with tall-" David began, but the tension in the bungee cords finally unleashed itself, and the cords propelled him upwards with great force. "Plaaaaaceeeeees!" he continued in a yell of terror as he got launched upwards.

David went up quite a high distance, and he could now see over the entire crowd. Despite his current amount of terror from being so high up, he concentrated on trying to pick out what was occurring on the stage at the very front of the crowd. He could currently see on stage a large anglerfish on a hook with a bucket under it. Next to it were an announcer and a chef with a large knife at the ready.

' _There it is!_ ' he noted to himself. ' _The anglerfish filleting on the hook._ '

David soon ended up falling back down to the ground because of gravity, but he then bounced off the trampoline and back up higher into the air. He did not enjoy it one bit, but he forced himself to observe what was going on once more on the stage. He now saw that the anglerfish was no more. It had been filleted very quickly, almost instantly.

' _He did it_ that _quickly?!_ ' David thought in disbelief as he came back down. He then relaxed himself to prevent from overly stretching the bungee cords and sending him back up again, as he now wished to get off.

He soon got his wish when he finally stopped bouncing some time later, and he got down from the bungee trampoline with a sick look to his face.

"So how did it go?" Anton asked him as soon as David stumbled over to the group.

"The anglerfish…" David began with a sick look. "Disappeared…" He also had a look of restrained anger mixed in with it, no doubt from being effectively forced to do something that invoked his fear of heights.

"What the…" Anton went in confusion. "I don't get it. What does that mean? Did something happen on stage?"

While that was happening, Erich got a call on his phone. He brought it out in confusion as to who could be calling him. "Huh?" he wondered until he saw the caller ID, which let him return to normal. "Oh, it's the student council."

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, the entire student council was at one of the Cooking Fan restaurants. Aprikose was waiting around the others for the moment as he held his phone to his ear.

" _Hier Erich,_ " he soon heard greet him instead of the dial tone he had been hearing prior.

"Ah, hey there Erich," Aprikose greeted with his usual carefree tone. "So right now, us six went over to eat some of that SC-katsu, but we asked for a rather large serving so… I was wondering if you wanted to come over and help us out with eating it?"

The dish Aprikose was referring to was right in front of all six of them at their table. The dish itself was a katsu dish, but it was deliberately shaped to appear like a _Sprengbombe Cylindrisch._ It was rather large in size, as well.

" _Ah, I see,_ " Erich responded over the line. " _Well, I'll see what I can do._ "

XXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Ooarai Marine Tower, Erich hung up his phone and put it back in his pocket.

"Wait, wait, wait, _Bubi,_ " Anton began as he waved his arms in a crossing motion gesturing to wait for a second. "You _do_ know that the Cooking Fan that's not aboard the _Zuikaku_ is quite a distance away from here, right?"

"Huh?" Erich reacted in confusion with a raised eyebrow. "Last I checked, it wasn't _that_ far away." He shrugged. "It's only a few miles away. Besides, I can just fly there in the _Messer._ "

"Ugh, I wanna wring his throat so badly now…" Saori muttered as she clenched her fists, clearly restraining herself from trying to wring Erich's throat.

Miho could see her friend's current state of self-restraint, and she simply brought a hand to her head and sighed with closed eyes. ' _He just doesn't understand that everyone wants to go with him,_ ' she thought to herself. ' _If only he could actually perceive the impact his actions can have on others…_ '

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	77. Kapitel 15,5,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünfzehn-komma-fünf: Extra Drei_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau - Das Blümelein in der Luft_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The fight between Schwarzwaldspitze High School and Ooarai High School had just come to an extremely nail-biting end. The marked men for each team had just taken each other head-on and ended their dramatic one-on-one dogfight. Now all that was left was to wait for the debris trails of the involved Bf 109 K-4 and Bf 109 G-6 now gliding beside each other to dissipate so as to determine who won.

In the cockpits of both _Messers_ were two particular girls that both bore the Hartmann name. In the _Kurfürst_ was the blond-haired and blue-eyed Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann fighting as the leader for Ooarai. Facing her in the _Gustav_ was the Black Demoness herself, also her older sister, the black-haired and brown-eyed Isabel-Justina Hartmann, fighting as the _Staffelkapitän_ for Schwarzwaldspitze. Both were hammered from their fight and were similarly waiting for the end to be called as they looked to each other.

Erika was looking to her sister with some somewhat obvious anxiety and a bit of fear, because if she lost, then Ooarai High School, her new home, would be no more. She also believed that her only chance at getting forgiveness from her older sister, for abandoning Schwarzwaldspitze and running away to become the _Staffelkapitän_ of another school, would be wasted if she lost.

Isabel, however, was looking over to her little sister with slightly wider eyes than normal for her. She soon closed her eyes and lowered her head in graceful respect, because no matter who the victor may have been, she was still proud of her sister for the great fight she put up. She had also seen the forgiveness Erika was searching for, and she found such efforts to be wasted because she wasn't ever angry with her in the first place.

Soon enough, the debris trails cleared from the two 109s, and the red smoke trail of defeat was coming from the Bf 109 G-6.

" _Schwarzwaldspitze's marked man has been defeated!_ " the speakers announced to the spectators. " _Therefore, Ooarai High School wins!_ "

That single announcement was enough to unleash a massive shout of cheers from the spectators, which was combined with the massive amount of cheering from the girls of Ooarai's _Jägermeistern Staffel._ The three Bavarian girls of Ooarai's student council, Anna Novat, Sieglinde Nikolaus, and Christl Nardo, all clanked some normal-to-them liter-sized glasses of beer together in celebration of the victory.

 _We had done it. We had done the impossible. We had managed to defeat Schwarzwaldspitze High School, and from that, we had also saved our home from destruction against all odds._

"Isabel!" Erika called out as she ran over to meet with the Black Demoness after their fight. The blonde-haired girl still wore her Ooarai _Jägermeistern_ outfit, which consisted of a white skirt and a white shirt. The rest of the uniform she could fulfill with her own clothes, like her usual black combat boots and her usual black jacket that she left undone. She also had a GwZF4-fach sniper scope on a string around her neck.

Isabel heard her sister call out to her, and she stopped walking away as she turned to face her. She also still had her Schwarzwaldspitze _Jägermeistern_ outfit on, which included a dark red skirt and a similarly colored shirt covered by a black jacket with red accents and a small Iron Cross on each side of the collar. The jacket also had a shoulder patch of the German black, red, and gold tricolor. In terms of style, the jacket appeared similar to a _Luftwaffe_ trench coat if not for its much shorter length that was more comparable to a normal jacket. She preferred to leave her jacket hanging open.

Erika also stopped ahead of her, though with more hesitation on her end, and the two sisters stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. It felt more unnerving to Erika because she somewhat felt like she was standing before a judge, which went well with the fact that she was the shorter of the two.

"Congratulations on the victory," Isabel finally spoke up. Her normally impassive face then morphed into one with a small grin that conveyed just how proud of her sister she was. "Your fighting was outstanding."

Erika held her previous face of hesitation for a little bit before she grew a brightly shining smile. She could tell from her sister's words that her praise was completely honest, genuine, and of a massive amount, even if she had only said four words with a small grin.

Isabel held out a hand to her little sister to offer a handshake. But Erika chose not to reciprocate the offer. Instead, she ran forward and gave her older sister a huge hug with a similarly huge smile on her face.

Isabel was caught a bit off guard by her sister's choice to hug her instead, but she grew back a smile, a smile that was bigger and expressed greater happiness, as she reciprocated her hug by wrapping her arms around her.

 _From this win, I also finally got to settle things with my Schwester, and I couldn't be happier about it._

Watching the heartstring-pulling scene from nearby were the two Nishizumi brothers: Michael and his younger brother Manfred, still in their Schwarzwaldspitze and Ooarai _Panzerkraft_ uniforms respectively. They both had slight smiles of satisfaction at the scene.

"Looks like they reconciled in the best possible way," Michael remarked. With his darker shade of brown hair and similar darker brown eyes, he wore a uniform with black pants, a dark red button-up shirt covered by a black jacket with red accents resembling a jacket of the _Panzerwaffe,_ along with a black cap with red accents. The jacket had the addition of some Iron Cross emblems on the collar along with a shoulder patch featuring the German black, red, and gold tricolor.

"Yeah," Manfred nodded in agreement. "They both needed this." Covering his head was a lighter shade of brown hair, and he also had a similar lighter shade of brown for an eye color. He wore a uniform consisting of black pants, a light green button-up shirt, and a dark blue jacket with a white collar.

The both of them remembered last year just how distraught Isabel had been in private for a few days after she discovered Erika had left Schwarzwaldspitze without a trace. Of course, in public, she was still the Black Demoness, and she was just as professional and impassive as she normally was, but out of the public eye, she was Isabelle, a then-sixteen-year-old girl that sorely missed her little sister and prayed for her well being.

Manfred also remembered the specific day Erika had come to his room for the last time at Schwarzwaldspitze, along with how she had looked very upset at that time. He didn't see her again until he ran into her again at Ooarai High School. He also remembered her telling him later on at Ooarai just how scared she was of being considered a traitor by her own sister for what she believed to be her selfish choice to run away without any kind of notice.

XXXXXXXXXX

By now, Erika and Isabel had released each other and talked with each other more normally.

"So," Isabel began as she held a knowing grin. She had her right hand to her right hip with her hips cocked to right. "I see you finally got yourself a _Freund._ "

Erika laughed a bit awkwardly as she scratched the back of her head and grew an embarrassed blush. "I guess I did…" she agreed. She then looked over to the Nishizumi brothers talking with each other now nearby, more specifically at Manfred. "I guess I did get myself a boyfriend…" she softly confirmed.

Isabel looked over with her, and she straightened as she put a hand on her shoulder in a gentle manner. "Well, I'm glad to see you finally did something about those feelings you told me about before," Isabel congratulated with a heartfelt smile. She then got Erika to look at her via rotating her body by the shoulder to face hers, which caught Erika off guard a bit. "Though make sure you don't do anything you'll regret now," she warned with an appropriate stern look of warning.

Erika looked back with wide eyes after getting put on the spot, but she soon grew a smile and laughed a bit. "Don't worry, I promise, _Schwester!_ " she promised with a bit of a childish voice as she hugged her older sister again.

Isabel then smiled again and returned the hug with just one arm. "That's good to hear," she remarked, now satisfied that her childish little sister wouldn't do anything too foolish in her new adventure with her lifelong friend.

 _And I also finally settled my attitude toward my best friend. Life is looking up for me, and for all of Ooarai as well._

"All of the most important lessons in life can be found within the Arts of Warfare. Most people don't realize that," a calm girl ambiguously spoke with a similar calm grin. From atop a most likely captured Soviet 72-K GAZ-MM flak truck, she was watching an exhibition fight between Ooarai-Chi-Ha-Tan and Saint Gloriana-Pravda some time after the 63rd International High School Arts of Warfare Tournaments had ended.

The girl herself had a Finnish appearance to her with very light blonde hair coming down to her upper back along with dark brown eyes. She had herself a typical body of a girl her age with all the curves necessary along with a normally sized bust. The clothes she wore included an undone light blue jacket resembling one of the Finnish Air Force from the wars against the Soviets, a white button-up shirt underneath, and a slightly darker blue skirt. The jacket also had a shoulder patch on it with the Finnish Blue Cross Flag. While often ambiguous in her words, this Finnish girl is also highly skilled as a fighter, able to make anyone fear for their life in the air if she's around. Somewhat befitting her great skill in the air, her name is Ilmatar, and she's the _K_ _omentaja_ of Jatkaminen High School's _Jägermeistern_ team.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Olivia, please don't obsess yourself with speed,_ " Lynette, Saint Gloriana's blonde _Jägermeistern_ Squadron Leader, reminded over the radio in her Spitfire LF Mk IX. The exhibition fight was a fierce fight at the moment, both on the ground and in the air.

"Yeah, I hear ya!" the girl known as Olivia responded with an energetically determined demeanor. She flew a later production Typhoon Mk Ib at the moment. Olivia herself also wore the Saint Gloriana _Jägermeistern_ uniform, which consisted of a black skirt, black boots, and a white button-up shirt covered by a zipped-up brown leather pilot's jacket, which also featured a British Union Jack on it as a shoulder patch. She was Welsh in appearance with some wild brown hair that reached the upper back and brown eyes. She was relatively average in terms of body and curves for a girl, though she was certainly not average in attitude. From that attitude also came her boisterous remark about her being the top Tiffy ace in her school.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little after the exhibition fight, all of the teams' _Jägermeistern_ girls took to relax in a large open-air bath. Predictably, all of them were nude at the moment. But instead of relaxing like all the other girls, the Russian girls from Pravda were doing something any other country would find odd. They were all breaking vodka bottles with their heads while leaning over the edge facing away from the bath center. They were humorously the complete opposite of the graceful girls of Saint Gloriana that they were allied with. Said British girls were currently drinking some more tea as they relaxed together elsewhere in the large bath.

" _Akh, trakhat' eto!_ " Sasha grunted in frustration as she slammed down a vodka bottle on the edge, but said bottle did not break. She had been unable to smash it against her head thus far. With a real name of Aleksandra, Sasha had a distinct Russian appearance to her with blue eyes and some blonde hair that reached her upper back. Also plainly observable because of her current lack of clothing in the bath was that she had a bit of a smaller bust than average for a girl her age and size.

"Keep at it, Sasha," Natasha calmly encouraged from beside her with a similar calm grin. She had already smashed a vodka bottle against her head. Natasha was a more mature Russian girl in comparison, which included a more mature and developed body. She had black hair reaching her upper back along with some blue eyes. "If you give up, then you won't get a bust as big as mine."

"He-Hey!" Sasha turned and reacted to her as she started to grow an embarrassed look. She was trying to mask said embarrassment with anger. "Those things hold no correlation to each other! And stop trying to make me feel insecure!"

Natasha calmly gestured to the vodka bottle in Sasha's hand with an implying grin. Sasha stared back at her with a glare and her blush, but she soon looked away and gave in to the peer pressure. She lifted the vodka bottle to try smashing it against her head again.

" _Odin… Dva… Tri… Chetyre…_ " another Russian girl on the other side of Sasha counted off the failed attempts with an amused grin. She had some black hair that ended at her shoulders and some brown eyes. She was fairly similar in stature and curvature to Natasha, albeit on an ever so slightly smaller scale with her just barely shorter height. A recent arrival to Pravda, she can also be called Stasya.

Sasha soon slammed down the vodka bottle again, yet it _still_ did not break even at that. "Shut it, Stasya!" Sasha finally screamed at Stasya as she tried to grab her. Such an action created quite a ruckus in the bath with the ensuing tumbling and splashing of the Russian girls doing the odd things Russians often do.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Hartmann-taichō,_ my sincerest apologies for our reckless fighting!" a Japanese girl apologized to Erika in a very formal manner. The girl herself had some very dark brown hair that appeared almost black along with a similar dark brown left eye. Why only one eye is described is because she wore a white eye patch with a blue diagonal stripe over her right eye all the time. Her body was of relatively average size and sculpture for a girl her age. Serving as the _T_ _aichō_ for Chi-Ha-Tan's _Jägermeistern_ team, this Japanese girl is also known by the name of Sachi Sakai.

Sachi was currently in front of Erika elsewhere in the bath. "Don't worry about it," Erika waved off with a hand and a calm yet assuring smile. She then leaned back against the edge with her hands behind her head, which resulted in her showing off much of her rack to the world. Such things weren't embarrassing to her, though. "It was still a lot of fun fighting with you all."

 _But, as luck would have it, such peace wasn't meant to last._

" _On August 31st… Ooarai High School will close down,_ " Erika heard an unusually impassive Japanese voice say over her Bf 109 K-4's FuG 16ZY radio later that evening, almost as if the speaker was forced to say it against their will. She was back in her Ooarai girls' uniform along with her usual jacket, and she grew wide eyes of shock upon hearing those words be spoken again so soon after fighting to keep that fate from happening.

The voice that had said the announcement was none other than the overall President of Ooarai High School, now standing before the rest of the Ooarai students by the entrance to the Ooarai port, minus the pilots of the _Jägermeistern_ team who were circling above in their respective fighters. Wearing the Ooarai boys' uniform, he had some full burgundy hair and some light brown eyes. He's relatively short and appears somewhat diminutive, but the amount of power and confidence he can display would make anyone else forget about his shortness. He also has an odd addiction to dried sweet potatoes, and he's also a natural for slacking off. Otherwise, he could also be called Akio Kadotani.

 _Not only is the school scheduled to shut down, but I also have a lingering problem from my past that's come back up._

"But you know I can't leave you again, Manfred!" Erika cried out in desperation to her boyfriend that night on the Ooarai airstrip. She was highly troubled and upset with the current prospect of having to abandon her friend again, as her shaking fists and tear-filled eyes indicated. She soon started to break as she closed her eyes shut, but even forcing them shut could not stop some tears from escaping them. Along with those tears came some sobs that held no particular pattern or timing at all.

Standing a few feet in front of her was her boyfriend Manfred back in his Ooarai boys' uniform, who was looking to her with a look of sympathy at seeing her so upset. He knew very well why she was so upset, and he didn't blame her for that feeling. Even though Erika was only going to get the fighters out of Ooarai to prevent them from getting repossessed, she couldn't help but be haunted by her earlier incident of abandoning Schwarzwaldspitze. Suffice to say that those old wounds from that time have not yet fully healed within her.

As such, Manfred felt that there was nothing else he could do than to try and comfort her in a hug. He just tried to will away Erika's troubles as he held her close within the comforting-to-her grip of his arms. But Erika still was in her distraught state as she continued to shed tears against his chest. "It's okay, Erika… It's okay…" Manfred continued with trying to reassure her. To try and help, he also gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Well… you remember when I was at Schwarzwaldspitze last year?" Erika asked to an American boy aboard the _USS George Washington_ the next evening as she stood near her Bf 109 K-4. She was currently having a talk with said boy to help with solving her little problem. The boy himself was relatively tall. He appeared even taller than he really was when compared to the noticeably shorter Erika. He had some full blonde hair with blue eyes. He had on one of Saunders' gray suit uniforms for the boys, which had a black tie and a white button-up shirt underneath the gray suit jacket. Otherwise known as Saunders' _Panzerkraft_ Captain, this American can be called Kelly.

"Yeah, I remember," Kelly answered as he nodded in remembrance. He then grew a smile as he chuckled. "You were the one that destroyed our girls' shot at a championship with your very first attack. You should've seen how butthurt they were about it after the fact." His recalling of meeting Erika and the Schwarzwaldspitze forces in the previous year's 62nd running of the tournaments helped to lighten Erika's mood a bit from its previous down state, as evidenced by her growing a slight smile and chuckling a bit.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that same evening, Erika had just landed her Bf 109 K-4 in the middle of a wide road near where Ooarai's Arts of Warfare students were temporarily staying. All of the other fighters of the school had landed before she did. She swung open the canopy to the side and moved to get out. But when she looked down to the ground, she saw Manfred there with a welcoming smile and a hand offered out to her for help getting down.

" _Willkommen zurück, mein kleines Blümelein,_ " he greeted her. During the time he had gone without her, he wasn't so lively, to keep things short. But upon seeing her fly overhead above the complex, he immediately ran over to the road in a rush of happiness and eagerness to see her again. He then immediately came over to Erika's 109 when it came to a stop.

Upon processing what scenario she was in, Erika remembered a similar time when they were in the same scenario as kids, and she grew a somewhat mischievous grin as she thought about recreating that scene. She jumped down to the ground, which forced Manfred to try and catch her so as to prevent her from getting injured. But he underestimated how much force she had behind her, and he ended up falling to the ground with Erika in his arms. From atop him, Erika simply laughed at managing to exactly recreate the scenario from when they were kids.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Baptized in fire!_  
 _Forty to one!_ "

A few days later, Erika had found out that her favorite band, a Swedish power metal band called Sabaton, was having a concert in the area, and she eagerly dragged her four fellow girl friends along to see it. Her boyfriend chose to spend the day with his own friends, which was why he wasn't with her. While Erika was highly into the show, the other four she dragged along were somewhat awkwardly looking around, as they felt very much out of place, what with being at a concert for a power metal band. They were also stunned to learn that such a band was Erika's favorite, though they later thought that it made some sense considering Erika wasn't like most other girls.

But all five of them soon took notice of a young girl that was just as into the concert as Erika was. She was shorter than Erika and had a body that appeared to still be developing itself with regards to curvature. She had some light gray hair that was done into a ponytail that reached her shoulders. The ponytail was done relatively high up on the back of the head, such that the hair in the ponytail was just barely below her head level. Overall, she had a distinct Polish appearance to her, and she also wore a short summer dress. The dress was black around the skirt and was predominantly white everywhere else, but the white areas also had black stripes.

 _If those problems aren't enough, I also have to help my boyfriend with his own unique problems, namely his current family situation._

"Come _on,_ Manfred," Erika grunted as she tried to drag her boyfriend along to his house. "It's only your _Vater._ " The two of them were currently in their hometown of Weissach, Germany so they could get their transfer documents signed by their guardians. But Manfred was being hard for Erika to work with as he tried to resist being dragged along.

"But that's exactly it, Erika!" he replied with some fear in his eyes. "It's my _Vater!_ You know how he is!" Manfred had on some more casual clothing now, which mostly consisted of some white jeans and a yellow t-shirt.

"I know…" Erika reluctantly agreed with an eye-roll. She knew what his father was like, but her opinion of his father didn't sit well with her right now as she tried to get her friend to talk to him. She then regained her previous determined demeanor as she continued trying to drag him to his house. "But you _have_ to do this. You can't let fear rule your life." Erika was also in some more casual clothing. She had on a short black skirt, a white tank top, and her typical undone black _Luftwaffe_ ground crew jacket along with black combat boots. She also had a _Maschinengewehr_ 42 on her back, which she had picked up from her room when she visited her own house and talked with her sister again just a short time ago. Why she owned one was unknown to the casual observer, but she was evidently strong enough to wield one by herself, regardless of what her stature said.

Manfred grew a bit of a resentful look upon hearing Erika's statement. "Of course _you_ would say that," he muttered. "You're not afraid of _anything…_ " He knew she would say something akin to that, and he couldn't deny it was something he had to do. But the sound of her saying it like it was no trouble only reminded him of how much more confident of a person Erika was, something he had difficulty being because of his inherent shyness. Although he would vigorously deny it because of how closely he held his friends to him, Manfred was somewhat envious of just how easily Erika could go and do just about anything like it was nothing.

Erika heard his muttering as clear as ice, and she abruptly stopped when she did. She turned to him and stared into his eyes with a somewhat hurt look. She just knew he would some day grow to envy her, as she was well aware that he wasn't someone that liked being in the public eye, yet had still seen _her_ always flourishing in the public time and time again, which seemed to make fun of his inability to do the same. They were very much opposites in terms of personality. Erika was the bright little flower that was just too nice and pretty for _anyone_ to ignore while Manfred was the one that stood off to the side by his shy lonesome, and because of those differences, Erika had the gut feeling that one day he would feel the way he did now.

"You're wrong," she softly said after a few seconds of silence. "There _are_ things I'm scared of." She then closed with him and gently brought her hands to his face. Manfred now had a huge look of regret on his face for his earlier words, words that he now wished he could take back. "Namely, I'm most scared of having to live a life that doesn't have you in it. I know just how different we are from each other, but I don't care about that. Those differences are things I'm willing to work with if it means I can live a life with you in it."

XXXXXXXXXX

"I know you guys haven't had the greatest of relationships, but he still loves his family regardless. So please… Just please give him a chance, _Herr_ Nishizumi," Erika tried to convince someone later in their office. She was at the desk with her hands on it trying to get the one behind the desk to give her boyfriend a chance at being accepted by them.

Sitting on their chair behind the desk was a very stern-looking German man with dark brown hair that was very neat and tidy along with dark brown eyes. He almost always wore a black suit with a white button-up shirt underneath. He is nearly the complete opposite of the very informal Erika standing before him. He has an extreme iron will that is connected to his very serious views of _Panzerkraft._ Because of those differences, he wasn't always approving of seeing Erika become such good friends with his two sons, though he did take note of how very close she was with his younger son, something he was secretly grateful for now that he looked back on it. A former _Tiger_ ace and the current head of the school bearing his family's name, this leader of the _Weiter Vorrücken_ doctrine of fighting is known as Otto Nishizumi.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You sure you two will be fine, _Mädchen?_ " Michael Nishizumi asked later on. He, Erika, and Manfred were now on a _Panzer_ II F as they headed through some surrounding areas on the way back to Erika's place. Michael was driving, Manfred was standing through the commander's hatch, and Erika was beside Manfred on top of the turret leaning back on her elbows.

"Yeah, don't worry about us," Erika waved off nonchalantly

"This place hasn't changed either…" Manfred muttered with an upset tone. Erika looked over to find him looking down with a similarly upset expression, and she grew a look of sympathy for him. He had gotten too scared of his father to talk with him, which was a blow to his goal of wanting to gain his acceptance.

Erika briefly thought about what to do to cheer him up and assure him of her everlasting support, and she quickly found something that would work. She brought herself so that she was leaning against him as she held onto him in a close hug, and she closed her eyes and began a song she knew Manfred would understand, both in terms of language and in terms of the message behind it. She began in a gentle angelic voice.

" _Bleib dir treu_  
 _Niemals auseinander geh'n_  
 _Werden immer zueinander steh'n_  
 _Für immer_ "

XXXXXXXXXX

"There is no luck in the Arts of Warfare. Only skill," another girl forcefully emphasized later on in the office of Renta Tsuji, one of the ministers of MEXT. The girl herself had some brown hair put into a low ponytail that reached her upper back along with some dark brown eyes. She had a very hard expression that made her look very difficult to talk to. She was called to the office by someone she remembered from several years ago to help 'convince' someone else to acquiesce to their demands, but she had her own motives as well. She was a childhood friend of Erika's, and even now she still wished to help her out however possible, so she herself could realize her goal of fighting her one day. This German girl, also the _Staffelkapitän_ for Bellwall Academy, is nicknamed Trude by those close to her, but her full name is Gertrud Königsberg.

Also in the office were seven more people. Five of them were there to get Renta to see their way, while the other two were just there to make sure no fights broke out. The two along for the ride were Gunda Rall and Shichiro Kodama, the directors for the International _Jägermeistern_ and _Panzerkraft_ Federations respectively.

The other five there besides Gertrud to bring their demands forth included Otto Nishizumi, Anna Novat, Akio Kadotani, and two Captains of the JSDF. One had a dark green officer's outfit of the JGSDF, short black hair, and similar black eyes. A relatively self-confident man well versed in tank combat, he can also be called Captain Ayumu Chouno.

The other had a dark blue officer outfit for the JASDF. She had some short yet somewhat perky hair of a darker brown along with some lighter brown eyes. This woman is perhaps the highest skilled fighter pilot the JASDF has, perhaps because of how daring she is. Otherwise, she could also be called Captain Miyu Honda.

 _But, by some miracle, we were able to earn a chance to fight for our home. Though it'll be a lot more easier said than done for us to actually come away victorious._

"Well, since she'll be participating also, just know that she won't hold back one bit," a Polish woman warned with a polite smile. Later on in Warsaw, Poland, Gertrud had come by a large office building that was the core of all Arts of Warfare activity within the nation of Poland to talk to the head for the country's _Jägermeistern_ activities.

The woman herself had a bit of an aristocratic look to her, with some gray hair neatly done into a ponytail that reached the middle of her back along with a short dark gray dress that looked more formal than would normally be expected of a short dress. Though she was a bit of an oddity due to how active she was in the field, what with her often personally going out to talk to some of the nation's aviators face-to-face along with the symbolic duties that came with such a high position. Her name was Sylwia Horbaczewski.

XXXXXXXXXX

One night aboard the _HMS Ark Royal_ housing Saint Gloriana High School, an aristocratic-looking boy was dictating a message to be transmitted via Morse code. He himself had some very neat and tidy blonde hair along with blue eyes. His face often held a calm yet confident grin. Known as being the Captain for Saint Gloriana's _Panzerkraft_ forces, he can also be called Darrence.

Along with his main message, the message also included the lyrics for a very particular song for almost all of the other recipients to memorize. He was now close to the end of the main part of the message. " _For her home weeps a kind little maiden, and she's called…_ "

XXXXXXXXXX

" _… Erika,_ " Isabel finished reading the decoded message within her Bf 109 G-6. She had a warm smile upon seeing she wasn't alone with her current endeavor as she continued flying on in her _Gustav_ into the night. She already knew by heart the song that was included, and she was glad to finally have the chance to sing it once more to the person she held her deepest sense of caring for, someone who coincidentally bore the same name as the song.

 _But, not all hope is lost. After all, yesterday's enemies are today's friends._

" _Halte es!_ " a German voice over a loudspeaker interrupted the match greetings between Ooarai High School and Selection University. Erika and Manfred looked over to the source of the sound on instinct, and they found something that they did not at all expect.

Coming down the hill behind them were four of Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzers,_ which included two _Panthers,_ a _Tiger_ II, and _Tiger_ number 212. Also with gear extended and flaps dropped as they came in to land were two Fw 190Ds, the Me 262 with a yellow number 14 on its fuselage sides, and the Bf 109 G-6 with a black tulip on its nose and a black number 1 on its fuselage sides.

As the German fighters touched down, Erika and Manfred swore they could hear some rhythmic stomping sounds coming from the loudspeaker, now seen to be on the _Tiger_ I, but that mystery was solved when Erika heard her sister's angelic voice over it, singing a song that she had sang to Erika many times as a child.

" _Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein_ "

There were three more prominent stomping sounds in rhythm that could be heard over the loudspeaker before she continued.

" _Und das heißt_ "

Three more hard stomps then surfaced when Isabel stood up in her now stopped Bf 109 G-6 with the canopy opened to the side. She had a warm smile as she stood up and looked directly at Erika while she herself wore an Ooarai girls' uniform.

" _Erika_ "

Three more hard stomps surfaced, and some more male and female German voices joined in. It was everyone else from the _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ group sent out by Schwarzwaldspitze.

" _Heiß von hunderttausend kleinen Bienelein_ "

"They're singing it again…" Erika breathed out in a stunned state. She was stunned to hear that song being sang again, because she had heard from Manfred that the students of Schwarzwaldspitze had abruptly stopped singing it when she left the school. Three more hard stomps with a deeper tone came. Both the normal and hard stomps had a deeper sound because of more people doing the action.

" _Wird umschwärmt_ "

Three more hard stomps came, and everyone else from the Schwarzwaldspitze reinforcement group stood out of their vehicles. All had either the boys' or girls' uniform of Ooarai on. All of them were also smiling in various ways, a huge oddity for them, though that was mainly caused by their willingness to fight beside their comrade once more.

" _Erika_ "

Three more hard stomps followed, and afterwards some more American voices joined in with the next line. Erika and Manfred looked over to find three Shermans approach along with two P-38s and a P-63 coming in to land.

" _Denn ihr Herz ist voller Süßigkeit_ "

Three more hard stomps followed as the guys and girls of Saunders approached with their own reinforcements. All of them also held smiles as they willfully came to fight for Ooarai as well. All were in the Ooarai uniforms, too, expressing their current allegiance.

" _Zarter Duft entströmt dem Blütenkleid_ "

Three more hard stomps followed, and some Russian voices joined in as well on the next line. From nearby, Erika and Manfred found two T-34s, a KV-2, and an IS-2 approach as two La-5s, an I-16, and a Yak-9 came in to land as well.

" _Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein_ "

Three hard stomps followed. In one of the T-34s was a tall Russian boy with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He was quite muscular, which fit his forceful and unwavering personality. He's Pravda's _Panzerkraft Kapitan,_ also called Kolenka.

" _Und das heißt_ "

Three more hard stomps came. The Pravda guys and girls were all willingly there to help Erika out as reinforcements, despite her formerly being part of their arch-nemesis. All wore Ooarai's uniforms to prove their alliance with them.

" _Erika_ "

Three more hard stomps came, which were followed by the entry of some British voices into the song.

" _In der Heimat wohnt ein kleines Mägdelein_ "

Three more hard stomps came, and now observable entering the area were a Churchill, a Matilda II, and a Crusader on the ground. Coming in to land also were two Spitfires and a Typhoon.

" _Und das heißt_ "

Three more hard stomps followed. The graceful folks from Saint Gloriana were also there to bring their help to the Ooarai group, as their donning of Ooarai's uniforms illustrated.

" _Erika_ "

Three more hard stomps followed, and entering the song on the next line were a few voices distinctly Italian and Finnish in nature. Also coming to reinforce were a CV.33 and a BT-42 on the ground, and touching down on the ground were a CR.42 and a _Myrsky._

" _Dieses Mädel ist mein treues Schätzelein_ "

Three more hard stomps came. In the CV.33 was a boy with a notably Italian appearance, though he had the oddity of having some full gray hair along with some burgundy-colored eyes. Otherwise called _Il Duce_ by his schoolmates, he's Anzio's _Panzerkraft_ leader, also called Adriano. He and the other Anzio reinforcements also wore the Ooarai uniform as they came to help.

" _Und mein Glück_ "

Three more hard stomps came. In the BT-42 was a distinctly Finnish boy with brown hair and light brown eyes. He most often wore a _väinämöinen_ and carried around a kantele, for whatever reason. The commander of Jatkaminen's reinforcements and the school's commander for _Panzerkraft,_ this cryptic Finn can also be called Mika. The Jatkaminen reinforcements were also wearing the Ooarai outfits as they came in to assist.

" _Erika_ "

Three more hard stomps came, and yet another group of voices joined in. This group consisted of Japanese voices. The next arrivals to the gathering were five Chi-Has and a Ha-Go on the ground, and coming to land were five A6Ms and a Ki-27. They were reinforcements from Chi-Ha-Tan, and everyone that came also wore the Ooarai uniforms out of their own support for them.

" _Wenn das Heidekraut rot-lila blüht_ "

Three more hard stomps came. In one of the Chi-Has was a typically Japanese in appearance boy. With some average-length dark brown hair and brown eyes, he was the polite yet overly formal commander of Chi-Ha-Tan's _Panzerkraft_ forces, otherwise known as Kisho Nishi.

" _Singe ich zum Gruß ihr dieses Lied_ "

Three more hard stomps came. The next group of voices to join in included those of Ooarai's participants excluding their overall commanders. The Ooarai group now had a greatly boosted morale at seeing the foes their little flower had conquered now giving her a massive amount of support for the most critical fight in Ooarai's history. By now, the stomping sounds and voices of everyone singing the song were loud enough to be heard above absolutely anything.

" _Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein!_ "

Three hard stomps came from everyone that had gathered in the area. By now, many of the spectators were looking on in wonder at just how popular and liked Ooarai's _Jägermeistern Staffelkapitän_ was, what with effectively having an army come to her aid of their own free will.

" _Und das heißt!_ "

Three more hard stomps followed, and everyone gathered there pointed directly at the person they were singing about: Ooarai's _Jägermeistern Staffelkapitän,_ often called _Mädchen,_ the girl known as Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann.

" _Erika!_ " everyone ended at a volume that seemed unrivaled in terms of the amount of passion invoked into it. Two hard stomps finished off the singing.

Erika herself was so highly touched by everyone coming to her aid that she had started crying out of sheer joy. She had taken to hugging onto Manfred out of her extreme amount of happiness from what just transpired.

 _With everyone close to us giving their help for our sake, we can now give our opponents a real fight that they'll never forget!_

Across from the two Ooarai commanders were Selection University's two commanders. The boy there was Polish in appearance and was relatively young, with light brown eyes and some light blonde hair. He wore some very dark green pants and an olive green long-sleeve shirt covered by a vest in a lighter grayish green. The shirt had a shoulder patch with the Selection insignia. The champion of the doctrine of fluidity in tactics, the Captain of Selection's _Panzerkraft_ team is called Alojzy Shimada.

Next to him was a girl wearing an olive green skirt, black combat boots reaching just below her knees, and an olive green shirt with long sleeves covered by a lighter grayish green vest that she left undone. She also had the Selection shoulder patch. She's the most highly skilled pilot that the Polish nation can offer, and was instructed to fight this fight so as to crush the prestige of German aviation. Erika had previously recognized her as the same girl that she saw at the one concert she went to sometime ago, and recalled her as being quite shy of other people then. Now, she was very impassive.

"We don't mind the additions," she granted to the referees there. Her name was Danusia Skalski, and she was Selection's _Jägermeistern_ Squadron Leader. "We'll take them on anyway. Just start the fight."

XXXXXXXXXX

Contents are subject to change between preview and final product. There is no guarantee that there will be a final product.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Erika-D. H.:_ Well, glad that _that's_ finally done. Now I wanna get some candy!

 _Isabel-J. H.:_ Absolutely not, Erika.

 _Erika:_ But… But _why?!_

 _Isabel:_ Because I know you're going to try and take every single piece of candy you can get, and I am _not_ paying for that.

 _Erika: Man,_ why do you have to hate having fun so much, Isabel?!

 _Isabel:_ It's called keeping a level head! An ability _you_ obviously lack!

 _Manfred N.:_ (awkward laugh) I guess they're back at it again, huh…

 _Michael N.:_ Move along, everyone. Nothing to see here. (crashing sound from two girls having a fight) … Well, _almost_ nothing.

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern** _ **and the currently tentative**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music, excluding the song "Erika," belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **The song "Erika" was created by Herms Niel. Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	78. Kapitel 16,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Sechzehn: Es sind die Bedingungen in Anzio!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Over aboard the _Aquila,_ the folks from Anzio were having a snack in their cafeteria. It was hard to tell whether it was just a snack or if it was a full-blown meal because of how large the servings were. The servings themselves were pasta, of course.

In her usual outfit as _Il Duce_ of Anzio, Anchovy was walking around carrying her tray to find a seat. "Ah, today's pasta appears as tasty as it always is!" she remarked in satisfaction.

" _Ehi!_ " someone called out to her. " _Duce!_ "

Anchovy looked over to the call and found someone at a table waving a hand, as if beckoning her their location. She saw and started over to the table upon recognizing who had waved.

The one who had waved the hand was Franco, Anzio's _Comandante,_ and at the table also were Pepperoni, Carpaccio, Furio, and Fernando. All were in their usual Anzio uniforms, and Franco had his unique outfit as _Il Comandante._

" _Ciao,_ guys," Anchovy greeted them all with a friendly look as she took a seat there. She took a seat between Pepperoni and Carpaccio. On the other side of the table was Franco in between Furio and Fernando.

" _Ciao,_ " they all greeted in a friendly way as well.

"Now," Franco began as he stuck his fork in his pasta. He now had a grin on his face. " _Buon appetito!_ "

" _Buon appetito!_ " the others similarly stated with eager looks, and they all dug into their delicious pasta.

But Anchovy soon widened her eyes as she made a sound much like a "Hm?" sound, but it was distorted with her mouth full. She reacted that way because she tasted another thing in the pasta that she didn't find too appetizing.

She then took to separating the element she had tasted from the pasta, and she set them on a plate to the side. ' _I don't really like carrots…_ ' she thought with a queasy face as she held another carrot on a fork.

The other five around her noticed, and Franco grew an idea as he tapped the shoulders of Furio and Fernando with a light smack, as if beckoning them. He grew a grin as he looked to them both, and through that grin was his plan also conveyed to the other two. They grew grins as well when they comprehended.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " Franco started chanting.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " Furio and Fernando joined in as well. Anchovy grew some raised eyebrows from surprise at the chants.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " Carpaccio joined from beside Anchovy.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " Pepperoni joined with the chanting. She and the guys began to pump their fists up with their chanting as well. Anchovy was by now getting nervous at hearing the chants as more people joined.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " Many in the cafeteria were now involved in the chanting, which included using their fists to emphasize the chanting. The cafeteria now was filled with chants for Anchovy as they egged her on, and leading the chanting was Franco, who was now standing up with one foot on his seat.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " Anchovy now was also standing up as she grew stage fright from everyone chanting her on to eat the carrot. She was sweating a bit as the fork in her hand shook ever so slightly from her nerves.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " Finally, Anchovy, reluctantly, decided to give in to the peer pressure, and she quickly munched down the carrot to avoid tasting it if possible.

" _Urrà!_ " everyone cheered for her as they started to clap in congratulations. Meanwhile, Anchovy had a real queasy and scrunched up face from the taste of that carrot she ate.

In other words, it was just another peaceful day in Anzio High School.

XXXXXXXXXX

After the snack/lunch/whatever meal it really was, Anchovy was standing before all the students of Anzio. With her at the front were Pepperoni, Carpaccio, Franco, Furio, and Fernando.

Furio and Fernando were each counting the heads of the crowd to make sure everyone was there and that there was no one trying to desert. After several seconds, they nodded in satisfaction with similar grins of satisfaction and turned to Carpaccio.

"All the boys are here," Furio informed first.

"I don't see any girls missing from here," Fernando informed.

Carpaccio nodded and grew a gentle grin. " _Bene, grazie,_ " she responded in kind. She then turned to Anchovy. " _Duce,_ everyone is here."

Anchovy nodded with a satisfied and confident grin. " _Bene,_ " she remarked. She then glanced to Pepperoni. "Pepperoni, if you would?"

" _Si!_ " Pepperoni responded, and she turned to the crowd. " _Attenzione al Duce!_ " she broadcast with a loud voice so the crowd would hear.

The entire crowd held their attention to everyone at the front, as instructed.

"Very well," Anchovy remarked in satisfaction. "Now then, _il_ _comandante_ and I will go over today's agenda with you all." Anchovy glanced over to Franco in implication. " _Comandante?_ "

Franco took the cue and took out a piece of paper. He held it up for everyone to see. "For those who haven't yet turned in their attendance sheets for this weekend's party, hurry up!" he informed. "Especially for those that want pasta!"

" _Urrà!_ " the crowd cheered in agreement with plenty of raised fists. Such is the love for pasta in Anzio.

"We're gonna have to be stingy this time," Franco continued with the agenda. "So make sure to properly put in the ingredients. That way we can all enjoy-"

" _Comandante!_ " someone called out with a raised hand.

" _Eh?_ " Franco wondered in confusion at someone wanting to ask something. He was also lost about wondering if it was important enough for an interruption.

"A request?" Anchovy quietly said to herself as she grew a look of intrigue. She had some interest in what the question was.

"What is it?" Franco permitted.

"I'm gonna become a student in Ooarai," they said with no sign that they were joking.

Everyone at the front all grew silent, and they grew blank looks as they processed the seemingly random statement.

Finally, Franco and Anchovy broke it. " _Cosaaaaa?!_ " both of them went in shock.

"What's with _those_ kinds of words coming out of nowhere?!" Franco questioned in disbelief.

"Didn't you like the pasta from yesterday evening?!" Anchovy asked with a similar tone of not wanting to believe what she just heard.

"Yeeeeeaaaaaah, how do I put this…" the one who said the random statement voiced as they thought. Many other people in the crowd started to chat amongst each other.

"Doesn't it seem like they're richer than we are?" one wondered.

"Ah, yeah, I know what you mean," another replied to them.

"The amount of war materiel they had increased all of a sudden, no?" another wondered in relation.

"Maybe the Nishizumis and Hartmanns send them money?" another guessed to the materiel question.

"Uh…" Franco went. He and Anchovy had somewhat panicked looks at hearing many of their fellow schoolmates talking about Ooarai so favorably.

"There were many ladylike girls there," one remarked.

"There were also a lot of true gentlemen there," another said.

"But there were a lot of strange ones around there, too," someone else noted.

"Yeah, I heard one of their _comandanti_ is really odd," another voiced.

"But some of those freshmen were really cute," another said.

"They've got to have some tasty food there, no?" another asked.

"Oh, yeah! Nice catch!" another commented.

"Um, wait…" Anchovy tried to gather everyone's attention, but she was unable to.

"Hey, I'm sure they've got an anglerfish stew food stall!" one person mentioned. Many of the Anzio students were gathering together now off to the side as if about to leave. Franco and Anchovy started panicking a bit more at that, but they couldn't do much about it.

"Oh, no way! I wanna eat that!" another replied to them.

"I wonder if it's free? It would be nice if it was," another voiced.

"I wonder what they have for snack time?" another wondered.

"Well, I heard that the local specialty there is sweet potatoes," another noted.

"Oh, I _love_ fried potatoes," another opined.

"They'll bring out potatoes! They'll bring out tons of them, for sure! After all, they're rich!" another spoke up with enthusiasm.

"All right, then let's go!" another proclaimed.

"Yeah! Let's go!" the others of the crowd agreed, and they all started off away from those that had called their attention.

"Fu-Furio, what do I do…?" Franco practically begged for help as he turned to face Furio. "They've all become Ooarai folks now since they're way too honest with themselves…"

"I know, what a bunch of troublesome folks," Furio agreed. But Franco did not respond verbally as he stood there with his mouth hung open at Furio's current attire.

What Furio was currently wearing was one of the Ooarai boys' uniforms. Anchovy meanwhile was looking around for Carpaccio, who had disappeared for the moment.

"… Just what the hell, Furio…?" Franco finally asked with a look of betrayal on his face.

"Oh, you're wondering how I got this?" Furio asked as he gestured to the Ooarai uniform he was wearing. "Well, suffice it to say that I know a guy."

"Carpaccio, what's up with that uniform…?" Anchovy spoke up with a look of exasperation on her face as she slumped a bit. The others turned to her and found Carpaccio had come back. But this time, she was in a girls' uniform for Ooarai.

Franco blinked in response. "Even the girl most honest with her feelings…?" he lamented upon seeing her as he slumped his shoulders.

"Well…" Carpaccio began as she flipped her hair with a hand. "Through a certain someone I know, I met a certain gentleman who happened to live there, and they arranged to have one lent to me." She ended with putting her hand to her chest in a gesture to herself.

She then grew a bit of a dreamy look as she imagined a particular boy that often wore a breastplate and wielded a spear standing in a heroic pose, as if awaiting a battle. Carpaccio sighed dreamily as she imagined said person. "I can practically smell his distinct Spartan scent…" she sighed in bliss.

XXXXXXXXXX

Aboard the _Zuikaku_ in the house of a certain group of history buffs, Oryou sneezed. She was still in her sleepwear for the moment in her room.

"Hey, what's up Oryou?" Saemonza spoke up from nearby. "Hurry up and get dressed. The others are waiting for us to spring into action." She currently had a red towel around her body along with another similar towel on her head. The towel on her head featured the Sanada clan's emblem.

"I can't seem to find my uniform, though…" Oryou responded as she looked through various drawers to try and find a uniform for her. "I know one set is in the laundry, but where did my spare go?"

"Ah, so that was Oryou's…" Caesar spoke up at the door with some revelation in her voice. She was ready to go in her usual outfit. "I thought it wasn't being used, so I borrowed it for a bit. Leonidas said he wanted to lend it to someone."

"Hey, you girls ready yet?" Leonidas asked as he came to the doorway. He was also ready to go in his usual outfit. Along with him also came Gustav, but he wasn't at all ready to go. He was in just his sleepwear.

Leonidas stopped when he noticed Oryou. "Oh, so that was yours…" he realized. He then waved off. "Well, don't worry about it. At least Gustav won't be alone in heading out without a uniform."

"I just don't give a fuck anymore," he said with lowered eyebrows. He looked like he was just done with dealing with the random things everyone there did, and the girls could see that.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back aboard the _Aquila,_ Carpaccio had just gotten out of her little fantasy and now addressed Anchovy. "And with that, I've got a date waiting for me!" she told her with a happy tone. " _Ciao!_ " She then grabbed Furio by the arm. "Come on, Furio, or we're gonna be late!"

As the two ran off with some eagerness, Furio offered a farewell wave with his other arm. " _Ciao!_ " he called out before they disappeared.

"Traitors!" both Anchovy and Franco yelled back with clear displeasure for them. Franco then lit up as he remembered some particular people.

"Pepperoni! Fernando!" he called out as he turned to them. "At least _you_ two will stay, right?!"

Both Fernando and Pepperoni had their arms crossed as they faced away from Franco and Anchovy. They did not respond to Franco.

"Pepperoni?" Anchovy asked this time. She was lost as to why Pepperoni didn't respond.

" _Comandante…_ " Fernando began as he turned to Franco. He grew a face of frustrated determination. "There seems to be something called 'SC-katsu' in Ooarai! Pepperoni and I tried to make one of those, but we failed…"

"No matter what," Pepperoni continued as she made a fist. She held a similar frustrated expression. "It just proved to be impossible to get it to the size of an SC 1000!"

"That's because you're thinking about it all wrong!" Anchovy yelled at the two of them. "And what kind of meat did you even use for it?!"

"Ah, don't worry about it," Fernando waved off as he grew a more confident look. "We're gonna try to steal the recipe for it, so just enjoy yourselves for the moment!"

" _Ciao, amici!_ " Pepperoni responded as she gave an enthusiastic salute before she and Fernando ran off to get on with their self-determined mission.

"Wait!" both Anchovy and Franco called out to them as they waved their hands in a gesture for them not to go.

"Please just try and think with your heads for once!" Franco yelled out at them.

Both Franco and Anchovy then looked around them and found that there was nobody left besides them. They sunk to their knees in despair. "E-Everyone…" they half-heartedly called one last time, but such a call had no effect. They were now all alone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later on, two Alenia C-27Js with the Anzio school markings and inscriptions of 'Anzio _Aereo Stormo_ ' at the nose were flying west over the Atlantic Ocean searching out the _Zuikaku._ They were heading there for another regular trade of supplies and resources between schools. Within each of the transports could be heard a lot of eager chatter that sounded distinctly Italian.

" _Man, today's stowaways are awfully noisy, huh?_ " one of the pilots commented over the radio.

" _Yeah, I wonder what they've got planned_ this _time,_ " the other thought aloud.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later on aboard the _Zuikaku,_ all of the stowaways from the C-27Js were now running through Ooarai High School's halls as they searched for the cafeteria. Why they were searching for the cafeteria was because those stowaways were all students from Anzio, and as such, they simply loved food too much to ever ignore it. All of those Anzio students were by now wearing Ooarai's school uniforms, with each gender wearing the respective boys' or girls' uniforms.

" _Ehi!_ Over there!" one of them called out as they pointed to some doors. The Anzio group stormed over there, and they all gasped in delight upon seeing what the Ooarai cafeteria was like beyond the doors.

"Wow! Their cafeteria is so spacious!" one remarked in glee. Ooarai's cafeteria was not too special in size, but each table had plenty of space between them and was plenty big enough, and there were definitive columns of tables. Between those columns were spaces that were large enough to have people walk through them with ease.

"They don't have to save electricity!" another observed. Indeed, all of the overhead lights and other electrical items in Ooarai's cafeteria were all on.

"How modern!" another noted. There were a handful of actual Ooarai students currently eating in the cafeteria or otherwise in the area.

"The air conditioning actually works here!" another noticed. None of the Anzio students were sweating or otherwise feeling hot, because Ooarai did have air conditioning in their cafeteria.

"They're rich! It's a school for the rich!" another claimed. Ooarai was in actuality a far cry from rich, but compared to Anzio and in the eyes of their students, it certainly was.

"There's even a piano!" another went. There was indeed a piano in the cafeteria. It was on a stage at the very front where the Anzio students were. Also on that stage was a rolling chalkboard.

"Oh, there's something like a TV over there!" another pointed out. What they were referring to was one of the display screens on one of the pillars. Those screens were also used for announcements.

By this time, many of the Anzio crowd had started storming the serving lines, effectively pillaging the food there with how enthusiastic they were now.

"The seafood is _so_ tasty!" one went in delight as they ate out of their bowl.

"Their nattou is really good!" another observed as they ate their own food.

"There's some real cute girls there!" another went. Some of the Italian boys there had already caught sight of girls they found to be very cute, and they let the rest know of that. So honest are they with their feelings.

"Ooarai, fuck yeah!" all of them called out together with an unrivaled amount of enthusiasm. " _Urrà!_ "

From near the serving lines, two particular people were watching all of the Anzio students with somewhat puzzled looks. The reason behind that was because they did not know that they were in fact students of Anzio, since they all currently wore the Ooarai uniforms.

"… Is it just me, or do we have a lot of people acting very differently today?" Erich asked as he looked on at the so-called 'Ooarai' students alongside Miho. Both of them were in their normal school outfits.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, Carpaccio had just run into a particular boy she had been searching out ever since Caesar told her about him.

"Ahh, it's you, my fearless Leonidas…" she sighed in delight as she held both of her hands in Leonidas' own. Both had an Ooarai uniform on, but Leonidas had his usual apparel to go with his.

"Ah, so _this_ is the famous Carpaccio I've heard so much about…" Leonidas remarked with a grin that had lowered eyebrows. "Well, it seems to me that she's a _really_ naughty girl, and that she needs to be _punished…_ "

"I just had to see you so badly, Leonidas…" Carpaccio responded with a dreamy voice as her face came closer to Leonidas'. "Punish me… I want you to punish me for it…"

"You better believe that I'll punish you…" Leonidas told her in a sultry voice as he brought his own face closer. Carpaccio giggled and moved to press herself against him.

Meanwhile, three particular people were watching from behind a nearby corner. They were the rest of the history boys. Gustav was distinct for not having his usual outfit like the others did. Instead, he was wearing a blue sweater that had a yellow Nordic Cross with the crossbar closer to the top along with some similar blue pants with a yellow stripe running up the sides.

"Haven't we seen that guy somewhere before?" Abe wondered.

"Isn't that guy a history buff that we know?" Wolf similarly wondered. "From the Balkans or somewhere around there…?"

"I can't tell," Gustav said. "The whole thing appears different from what I usually see."

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in a gym, there was an intense game of badminton that was just about to start.

"Alright, here it comes!" Fernando called out on one side of the net as he got ready to serve the shuttlecock. He was now in some gym clothes, which were mainly a white t-shirt and black baggy shorts.

"Alright!" the other badminton guys distributed throughout the makeshift court in the gym responded affirmative.

"Serve's up!" Fernando called out as he tossed the shuttlecock up and served it. It was a decently powerful serve, and Ron took notice. In the meantime, Alex hit the shuttlecock and returned the serve.

"You!" Ron said as he looked over to Fernando. He paused to hit the shuttlecock back. "You've got some good skill! Nice guts you have there!"

"Thanks!" Franco responded as he prepared to receive the next return. He then mentally stopped himself as he grew a lost look. "Wait a second… How did I get to this point again?" He was still in good enough condition to return the shuttlecock and continue the rally, which he did. "And why did I even come here, anyway?"

But he forgot about why he had come there and dropped the whole idea when he saw the shuttlecock get returned. "Ah, whatever!" he dismissed as he moved and returned it to continue the rally.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile back aboard the _Aquila,_ Franco and Anchovy were walking around the school's halls with a very gloomy mood. They couldn't find anything they could normally do since many of the Anzio students left for Ooarai.

Finally, Franco stopped as he grew an idea. "Wait, I know what we can do!" he voiced.

"What is it?" Anchovy responded without any enthusiasm.

"Maybe if we make some tasty pasta, then they'll all come back!" Franco suggested with confidence.

Anchovy lit up as she processed the idea, and she soon grew an enthusiastic look as she turned to Franco. "You're a genius, Franco!" she praised. She then turned and pointed onwards. "To the kitchen! We have pasta to make!"

" _Si!_ " Franco responded affirmative as both started running for the kitchen.

They soon arrived at the school's kitchen. Franco got there first and quickly took off his cape as he grabbed two cooking aprons off a hook. Both were light green, but one had P40 on it with a heart between the 'P' and the '4.' The other had G.55 on it with a centaur stylized below it.

He tossed the P40 apron over to Anchovy just behind him, and he quickly slipped on and tied the G.55 apron around his body. Anchovy caught her apron and quickly shed her mantle before putting on the apron and tying it. Both of them were by now highly motivated.

"Hey, where did the usual pots go?" Franco noticed when he arrived at the ovens and stoves. He then called out on instinct, " _Ehi,_ Furio! Carpaccio!" But he took a second to stop and look around, and he depressingly remembered that neither of them were there. "… aren't here…"

"Well, let's get with making the salad!" Anchovy suggested to keep the mood up. She then turned on instinct to look behind her from the cutting boards. "Help me wash the vegetables, Pepperoni! Fernando!" But she then grew depressed when it registered in her mind that they weren't there, either. "… who aren't here, either…"

Both Anchovy and Franco took off their aprons without much energy to cook anymore. They just dropped them right there and left the kitchen with their heads hung in depression.

They exited the school and walked through the neighborhood aboard until they entered an apartment complex. Anchovy soon opened one door with a key and entered with Franco. This was her apartment. It was quite bare of decoration as a consequence of Anzio's poor status.

Finally, the two of them soon dropped down to the ground in depression. Anchovy hugged her knees as she sat on the floor while Franco lied beside her all sprawled out as he looked to the ceiling. Both had depressed looks from having nobody left at the school besides each other.

"Now that everyone's gone…" Anchovy muttered. "… It's all quiet…"

"Yeah…" Franco absentmindedly agreed. He soon sat up and looked over to Anchovy. "It may not be a great idea, but we _could_ try and follow after them," he suggested. "I mean…" He looked around the room. "… There's really nothing better to do here."

Anchovy looked down in depressed thought. Finally, she sighed. "Fine," she acquiesced. "Let's get our uniforms."

Franco nodded. "Alright," he confirmed as he stood up. "I'll be back in a bit after getting mine." He then left the apartment.

Anchovy then went over to a drawer chest and rummaged through it for a bit until she pulled out some clothing. She hesitated for a bit as she thought about whether to do what Franco suggested or not. The clothes she was holding were clothes that together made up the Ooarai school uniform.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back at the _Zuikaku,_ things were proceeding just as predicted with a group of unruly Italians. Some of them were for now hitting on some of the Ooarai students.

" _Mio dio,_ heaven must be in a huge uproar right now," one of the Anzio guys began to one of the Ooarai girls in a flirty voice. "After all, their cutest angel is missing from there." The girl he was flirting with was clearly entranced by him if her embarrassed grin full with a blush was anything to go by.

" _Eeeeeeeh?!_ " one of the Anzio students went in shock. Some of the other Anzio students had their attention drawn to the student in response.

"What's up?" one of them asked as a few gathered around the Anzio student that had cried out. Said student was currently very unsteady in their balance, which seemed to have resulted from whatever it was that they figured out. Whatever it was, it had a profound impact.

"Was there a fight?" another asked.

"You got hit on?" another questioned.

"In Ooarai…" the stunned one began. "… There's no snack time…"

" _Cosaaaaaa?!_ " the other Anzio group went in disbelief. They absolutely could not believe that Ooarai had no snack time.

"N-Not even _once?!_ " one asked in disbelief.

"But wouldn't that cause the Ooarai folks to starve?!" another questioned in similar disbelief.

"Speaking of that, I don't see any food stalls up, either…" another noted as they looked around.

"Huh? Food stalls?" Lemu wondered with a raised eyebrow. He was nearby with the rest of the Public Morals Committee. "Well, today's not a festival day, so of course there aren't any."

Sodoko grew a suspicious look as she looked more closely at the Anzio group. She didn't know they actually were Anzio students because of their Ooarai uniforms, but she had a suspicion that those particular 'Ooarai' students were not normal. "Wait a minute…" she began. "I don't think I've seen _you_ all before…"

" _Ehi,_ everyone!" one of the 'Ooarai' students called out as he ran over with a plate of pasta. The others of the same group turned to face him. "Something terrible has happened!"

" _Cosa? Cosa?_ " many of the Anzio students asked as they gathered to him.

"T-The ship…" he began with dread. "… Has run out of pasta!"

" _Cosa diavolo?!_ " many of the students went in shock.

"T-The pasta is…?" one of them fearfully tried, but they couldn't finish the question. The question itself was simply too scary for them to finish.

"Just what are we supposed to eat now?!" one of them demanded.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later, Pfirsich was walking alone through the lower decks where all was quiet except for his own footsteps against the metal floor. Like the other Ooarai folks now, he also had his uniform on, but he also carried a small notebook with him.

As he walked through the lower decks, he soon started to hear some voices. He grew a raised eyebrow in curiosity, and he chose to follow the sound. He followed it all the way to one of the storage rooms. Said room currently had its door opened, and he stopped in the doorway.

"Hey!" he called out. "I didn't receive any requests for anything here today."

There was a number of people inside currently messing with a lot of what was in the room, which held a resemblance to food.

"Hey, what are you all doing?!" Pfirsich barked when they didn't respond to him.

This time, he was met with a response, but it was one that he didn't expect.

"Ha?!" he went in surprise when a long string of bundled noodles was whipped around one of his arms.

"Pastaaaaa…" the people inside the room said with a trance-like voice. All of them were the Anzio students. They were currently raiding the room in search of more pasta. Among the foods to be looted were some pizza dough, ketchup, and general noodles. "Pastaaaaa…"

"Why don't we turn you into pasta as well…" one of them suggested in their trance-like voice as many hands reached out for Pfirsich. Some of those hands also held noodles.

Pfirsich was breathing heavily now as he grew to be terrified by the Anzio crowd closing in on him with a massive glint in all of their eyes. "Pastaaaaa…" they went again in their trance-like voices.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Pfirsich was last heard yelling out. The yell echoed through all of the nearby halls below deck, and all that could be heard was mushing and whipping sounds mixed with a distinct impacting-with-flesh sound.

XXXXXXXXXX

On the top deck in the gym, the badminton folks were all taking a breather as they relaxed. Fernando was still there, and he was currently drying up his face from the sweat with a towel.

"Ah…" he sighed. "I sure broke a real sweat there."

"Hey, take one of these!" Alex offered as he tossed over a drink.

"Ah, _grazie,_ " Fernando thanked as he caught it. He popped the cap and took a swig.

"By the way," Alex began as he took a rest beside Fernando. "I don't think I've seen you here before. What class are ya from?"

"Oh, me?" Fernando asked as he stopped drinking. "I'm from Anzio. Name's Fernando."

Both of them then lied back onto the floor and relaxed for a bit. But after several seconds, they both rose up and looked to each other. "Huh?" both went with blank looks when their situation finally sunk into their heads.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in the halls, Carpaccio and Leonidas were still having a lot of 'fun' with each other, and the history boys were still looking on. At the moment, Carpaccio was fully lip-locked with Leonidas, and the two were moving around quite a bit as they held a struggle for power between each other. They both wanted to gain the dominating position over the other.

As a consequence, they were not paying attention to anything besides that, which included them not paying attention to their surroundings. Carpaccio soon ended up bumping into someone behind her, and she and Leonidas immediately separated.

"Oh, I'm sor-" she began as she turned to who she collided with, but she then noticed who exactly she had bumped into and stopped herself. It was Caesar and Furio, who were, ironically, just previously in a similar scenario as Carpaccio and Leonidas.

As the two pairs both registered what had just happened while looking to each other, Carpaccio and Furio grew dark looks aimed at Caesar and Leonidas respectfully. They were utterly pissed that their friends interrupted their specific moments of enjoyment.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later, there were four CV.33s barreling through the streets aboard the _Zuikaku_ at top speed. All of them had a large number of Anzio students on top of each of them.

Behind them and giving chase were Ooarai's _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t), I-Go otsu, _Char_ B1 _bis,_ and Type 94. All of their crew members had on their normal Ooarai school outfits.

"So you all _were_ outsiders after all!" Sodoko yelled out at the Anzio students within her _Char_ B1 _bis._ "Capture them! Capture them!" She fired her 47 mm SA 35 gun at the CV.33s.

The shell missed as the Italian tankettes took evasive maneuvers, and the shell simply hit a wall and broke it apart. The chase rounded another corner, which took them through one of the neighborhoods of apartment complexes. The Anzio students atop the tankettes were hanging on with determination as the chase continued.

"It doesn't matter if you're from somewhere else!" Ron called out from the Type 94, which was at the front of the pursuing group and currently passing the CV.33s to get a shot on them. "Just join our club!"

"We have a hostage!" one of the Anzio folks yelled back, and the CV.33 group turned off on another street, leaving behind the Type 94.

"Just shoot them!" Anzu ordered from her _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t), which was the current leader of the pursuing group now that the Type 94 was shaken off. "Even Pfirsich!" She ended by firing her 7,5 cm PaK 39 at one of the tankettes.

But the small size of the CV.33s benefitted them as the shot missed all of them, though only barely. Instead, after nearly skimming the hair of some Anzio girls, it sailed onwards ahead and finally hit an apartment complex with spectacular damage resulting from the impact.

"President…" Yuzu nervously said when she realized that Anzu wasn't kidding with her order. Although unwillingly so, she continued to drive the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) onwards and follow Anzu's orders.

"Mmm! Mmm! Mmmmm!" Pfirsich tried to say from his spot in one of the CV.33s, but he could not. Why he couldn't speak was because he was tied up, and his mouth was taped over to silence him.

"Hey, shut it," Fernando said from beside him. He was driving this CV.33

"We'll be driving to the airstrip aboard and using the transports to escape!" Carpaccio notified from her point at the front of the tankette group. "So follow me!"

"For real, Carpaccio?!" Pepperoni said from beside her with a stunned tone. She was driving the lead CV.33. "I thought they were gone already?!"

"They haven't left yet!" Furio determined. He was on top of the CV.33 Fernando was driving, which was the second one in line for the group. "Otherwise we would have heard the whooshing of their engines!" He then pulled out his phone and looked at its clock. "But we're going to have to hurry, because they're scheduled to leave anytime now!"

" _Si!_ " Pepperoni responded affirmative as she understood.

"Attention passengers!" Fernando yelled out. "Hold on to your fucking seats! We're gonna give these guys hell with trying to chase us!"

All of the Anzio folks atop the tankettes moved to hold on tightly as the CV.33s made another sharp turn. By now, they were on the edge of the neighborhood and closing on the school itself. By this time, the _Char_ B1 _bis_ had fallen too far back from the chase and was forced to break off. It was only the I-Go and _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) now, though only the _Hetzer_ was any true threat.

"Come on!" Noriko called out from her hatch. "Just join our club! We don't care if you're from somewhere else!" Accordingly, the I-Go never fired its gun.

"Yuzu, keep it steady!" Anzu ordered within the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t). She had managed to reload the gun by herself, though it was hard because of how cramped it was in there, how small she was, and how large the shells were. Not to mention that the gun was reloaded from the right side, which was problematic since in the _Hetzer,_ the gun was offset to the right. But she had gotten it done regardless, and now, she was back in the gunner's seat and aiming through the gun sight at the CV.33s.

"Sorry, Madam President, but that's nearly impossible if we don't want to lose them!" Yuzu responded as she tried keeping up with the CV.33s.

Anzu huffed a bit at that, and she instead chose to open her hatch to stand through it so as to get a better look at the situation. She noted that the CV.33s were driving relatively quickly and maneuvering with ease, which was making it impossible for her to line up a shot.

"Where are they even _going,_ anyhow?" Anzu wondered to herself. She observed that they were currently at the edge of the apartment complexes, and that they were currently closing in on the school itself. But she raised her eyebrows when she heard the distinctive whooshing sound of some turboprop engines starting up, and she immediately realized where the Anzio folks were going.

She dropped back down into the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) and got on the radio. "They're trying to escape on the transports at the airstrip!" she broadcast over it. " _Orkan,_ get down there and cut them off!"

" _But why not just capture them?_ " Ron argued over the line. " _They've got some people we could really use here!_ "

"I don't care!" Anzu retorted. "Just do it! If they board the planes, then shoot them down!"

" _Alright, alright! Jeez, no need to be so pushy…_ " Ron acquiesced, and the line then went dead.

"Madam President!" Yuzu called from her driver's spot. "We're there already!"

Anzu raised her eyebrows in alarm. "Dammit, it's just us then!" she realized as she hastily manned the gun again.

Outside the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t), the chase had now come to the school's airstrip. The CV.33s had a good lead over the _Hetzer_ because of the Italians' skilled driving.

"Go! Get on the planes!" Carpaccio ordered the group. In response, the CV.33s drove up the ramps of the two Alenia C-27Js that now had their engines running. Two tankettes went to each transport. Furio and Carpaccio went into separate ones with their respective tankettes.

"Hurry! Go!" Furio called out to the pilots afterwards. The transports themselves did not wait to close the ramps, and they both began to take off with the ramps still open.

"Yuzu! Traverse and keep the planes in sight!" Anzu ordered. Yuzu halted the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) and now simply traversed the hull to keep the planes in Anzu's sights. "I've got only one shot at this…" Anzu lined up and targeted the planes as best she could. She chose to target the one in the rear. The limited time she had forced her to eyeball the target in her sights, as the time to range it and dial the range in simply wasn't there. Not to mention the target was moving away from her.

The Anzio students within the rearmost C-27J were all watching the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) line them up, and they were on their knees praying that the shot would miss. It was a very desperate prayer, as they had seen just how accurate of a gunner Anzu was during the tournaments.

Anzu then fired the 7,5 cm PaK 39 at the rearmost C-27J. The shell dropped off until it struck the ground just below the C-27J that had started to lift off. The Anzio students breathed a huge sigh of relief upon seeing it miss. But they didn't have long to wait until they were under fire again.

" _Incoming!_ " the pilot advised over the plane's intercom. The Anzio students hunkered down by the CV.33s in response as the clanging sound of bullets striking the fuselage surfaced.

Firing on the transport from outside was the Type 94, which was driving along the airstrip's side as it fired on the plane. The 20 mm shells came at the transport and pelted it repeatedly, but the plane was not yet downed as it continued absorbing the punishment.

The C-27J was able to withstand the fire and continued getting higher into the air until it had gotten away from the airstrip. The Type 94 stopped at the end of the airstrip and ceased fire.

"Dammit!" Anzu slammed her fist in frustration on the roof of her _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t). She was standing out of the hatch looking at the C-27Js fly away. "They got away!"

"Madam President?" Yuzu began. Anzu looked over to her back down in the hull. "It may just be something I imagined, but did you hear any aircraft engines besides the transports? I could have sworn I heard one earlier when we chased them out of the school at first."

Anzu thought for a bit. "… You know, as a matter of fact, I _did…_ " she recalled. She then lit up and dropped down into the hull to get on the radio. "Hey! Is anyone in the air right now?!"

" _Autsch, that yell really hurt my ears, Anzu,_ " she heard Erich's voice respond.

" _Bubi,_ are you in the air now?" she questioned.

" _Yes, I am,_ " Erich replied affirmative. " _I'm about twenty or so miles to the east, three thousand meters high thereabout. Why do you ask?_ "

Anzu then grew a predatory grin. "Look for two transports of Anzio flying east away from the _Zuikaku,_ " she ordered. "I want you to intercept them, and if they don't cooperate with our demands…" She then grew an extreme version of her predatory grin, not unlike her rape face she often wore when playing the role of the hunter in fights. "… I want you to shoot them down."

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Urrà!_ " the Anzio crowd cheered for their successful escape. They were now relieved to see that they weren't being shot at anymore. At the current moment, all of the Anzio folks looked quite hammered from the escape with their mangled outfits. Both transports were now flying beside each other.

" _Buon lavoro,_ everyone," Carpaccio congratulated everyone in her transport. She had a great look of relief on her face since everyone managed to escape. "Now, let's head-"

" _We've got trouble coming in!_ " one of the pilots notified. " _There's a fighter approaching from ahead!_ "

" _Cosa?!_ " the Anzio folks panicked upon hearing they weren't out of trouble yet. They were even more so now since they had practically no way of fighting back now.

They all turned their attention to the outside when they heard a fighter aircraft zoom past the opposite way, and they made to get a good look at it through the still-open cargo ramp.

Carpaccio got some binoculars out an she scanned the fighter that was now pulling an Immelmann to come back toward the two transports now flying beside each other. She soon lowered them with eyes wide in dread. "We're so fucked now…" was all she said. The Anzio students grew into even greater despair as they all shuddered in fear at the aircraft they were looking at.

Why she said such a thing was because of the aircraft she saw. She recognized it as a Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 painted in a late-war camouflage and wearing the Ooarai markings. There was noticeably a knife on the tailfin, but what made her and the rest of Anzio shake in fear was the distinctive black tulip design at the nose of the aircraft. This was the aircraft of one of the world's top two aces: Erich-Dietrich Hartmann.

The _Messer_ came up behind the left C-27J, which was the one Carpaccio was in. Erich closed with it and matched its speed. He then placed himself directly behind the still-open cargo ramp, which allowed him a look into the cargo bay.

"Hey, Carpaccio!" the copilot called over to her from the cockpit. Everyone there looked to the cockpit to find the copilot with a walkie-talkie in hand. "Here!"

Carpaccio blinked, but she walked over and took the walkie-talkie. She then walked back to the rear and looked over to the extremely threatening-looking Bf 109. She gulped a bit to swallow that fear, and she switched the walkie-talkie on.

" _Hey,_ " she heard Erich's voice greet her over the line. The Anzio crowd was still shaking in fear of the fate they could potentially suffer from him. " _Just to clear things up, you_ do _plan to pay for the damages you all caused, riiiiight?_ "

"… But…" Carpaccio tried to respond, but her current fear of the blond-haired German ultra-ace was preventing her from speaking. "… We don't have any money..." she lamely muttered in response.

" _Oh, that is sooo unfortunate for you all, then,_ " Erich responded with a voice that sounded pleasant, but also had a threatening tone to it. " _Because if you_ don't _have the ability to correct your wrongdoings… Then I see no need for you to continue flying on._ "

The rest of the Anzio crowd started to shake in even greater fear now, and some of the girls even started crying at what their implied fates were. Carpaccio tried to respond to the threat. "Bu-But please!" she begged. "I'm being honest!"

" _Well that's good of you to be honest,_ " she heard the German voice everyone there feared now respond as if it was nothing. " _But that does nothing to change the fact that_ you _all were responsible for a_ lot _of trouble._ " There was silence from the walkie-talkie for a few seconds. " _Well? What's your decision then? Just know that we're currently about a thousand meters up, and also that it would be a very painful experience to get shot down at such a low height. Who knows? You might not even live to see rescue._ "

Carpaccio trembled as she held the walkie-talkie and tried to think of how to satisfy her executioner. She finally lit up upon remembering something that might work. "We'll make you as much potato pasta as you like!" she offered.

Silence reigned for a few seconds. " _… You_ will?" she heard Erich ask with skepticism.

"Yes! We will!" Carpaccio promised. "Just please don't shoot us down, and we'll come back with all the potato pasta you want!"

Silence reigned for several tense seconds. The Anzio group was still shivering in fear at the 109 being wielded as their executioner's primary weapon.

" _… Alright,_ " they finally heard Erich later. " _You owe us all the potato pasta you can make with your current shipment of potatoes. Is that a promise?_ "

"Yes! It's a promise!" Carpaccio promised with a greatly relieved smile.

" _Good. Now get out of here,_ " Erich ordered. " _Remember that promise. If it's not fulfilled, we will storm your ship and take every single gram of pasta you have, including the pasta you stole from us, and we'll gun all of you down while doing it. Ciao,_ " he ended as he bunted the 109's nose down before banking away from the C-27J and turning around to head back to the _Zuikaku._

All of the Anzio students finally breathed a huge sigh of relief when they could no longer see the Bf 109.

"You can close the ramps now," Carpaccio said over the walkie-talkie she still had.

" _Okay,_ " the copilot responded. " _It's coming up._ "

The Anzio group all relaxed inside the C-27Js as their cargo ramps shut, and they all continued on to their destination with no more threat of being shot down by any German aces.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later aboard the _Aquila,_ Franco and Anchovy were walking through the main square that Anzio's students often gathered at. It was empty with the current lack of students.

But what stood out most was the fact that both Franco and Anchovy were wearing the Ooarai school uniforms.

"In such a place as this…" Franco started as he looked at himself in his current outfit. He looked a little unsure about wearing it, but he wore it anyways.

"I-It doesn't look too strange, does it…?" Anchovy asked as she looked at herself. She looked much more unsure of herself while she was wearing the outfit.

Franco turned and prepared to respond, but another voice gave the response for him.

"It really suits you!" Carpaccio commented with a pleasant smile. She had her usual Anzio school uniform on.

"Guh!/Gah!" both Franco and Anchovy reacted with a jolt upon hearing the voice as they both turned towards Carpaccio in surprise.

"You two are looking nice today!" Furio commented similarly from beside her with his own polite smile. He also wore his Anzio uniform.

"What the-… You all came back!" Anchovy observed with great disbelief. She and Franco saw everyone that had left were now back as they stood behind Carpaccio and Furio.

"Yo!" Pepperoni greeted with an exhausted voice. She was still in the gym clothes she had worn during her time playing volleyball at Ooarai.

" _Ehi,_ we're back…" Fernando notified with a similar exhausted voice. He also was still in the outfit he wore during his badminton experience.

All of the Anzio students looked exhausted with their current slumps, and the rest were also still in their Ooarai uniforms. They were all covered in dust and bruises from their great escape.

"You all look pretty mangled up though…" Franco observed. "Anyway, how was Ooarai?"

The crowd got more fired up when they were asked that.

"Ooarai was horrible! They didn't have any pasta!" one complained.

"The students there were kinda cute, though," one voiced.

"There weren't any food stalls there, either!" another complained.

"There wasn't any snack time, either!" yet another complained.

"It's gotta be the good ol' Anzio!" one claimed.

"O-Oh…" Anchovy went as she started growing delighted with everyone's current opinions.

"I wanna eat _Duce's_ pasta!" one said.

"Anzio is the best!" another claimed.

"You idiot, Leonidas…" Furio grumbled.

"Self-effacement!" another called out as they tore off their Ooarai uniform.

" _Duce_ and _Comandante_ are the best!" another claimed.

"Screw you, Caesar…" Carpaccio brooded.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " people started to chant. " _Duce! Duce!_ "

Franco looked over to Anchovy after observing the crowd, and Anchovy got the message behind his look. Both nodded with determined grins.

"Alright!" Franco broadcast his voice over the crowd's chants as he raised a fist. "Today we'll be having a party after all this is settled! And be sure to enjoy _Duce's_ special pasta!"

" _Urrà!_ " everyone cheered in agreement. Both Franco and Anchovy were now back to their usual selves with everyone back.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile back at the _Zuikaku,_ rebuilding was already underway for the ship after the Anzio students plowed through the ship. The Public Morals Committee was overseeing the effort, but Sodoko was distinct as having a displeased face. She was still brooding over not being able to capture any of the Italians earlier.

Up in the student council office, Zitrus was reading off a report in front of Anzu's desk.

"Damage on this case included the complete appropriation of the ship's pasta supply, various property damages in the closest neighborhood to the school, an expenditure of around 20 tank shells, an expenditure of roughly 200 bullets from AA guns, and near-complete consumption of the C3 avgas from the 109's tank during its intercept," he detailed. "Oh, and Pfirsich was taken prisoner, as well."

"I see…" Anzu nodded. She then turned to another person in the room. "But why didn't you shoot them down?!" she demanded. "Just how long were you even flying up there?!"

Erich kept a calm smile as he responded,"For the record, I was flying ever since lunch ended. Or about..." He tilted his head side to side in thought. "... one and a half hours, give or take." Beside him with a more awkward smile was Miho. "Also, they offered to repay us with potato pasta."

Anzu blinked in response, but she then leaned back as she regrew her carefree look, which was completely opposite of how she was earlier. "Oh, well that's nice," she commented. "Looks like they enjoyed themselves then." She was satisfied now that she heard the promise to pay with potato pasta.

Miho awkwardly laughed a bit as she leaned close to Erich's ear. "Why did she perform a 180 right then?" she quietly asked.

Erich shrugged. "Because she's like me," he provided. "Someone with a huge _Kartoffelnsucht._ "

Elsewhere in the halls, Leonidas and Caesar were rubbing their faces with somewhat depressed looks.

"What was up with Furio there?" Leonidas wondered as he rubbed his nose from where Furio had punched him in the face.

"Carpaccio… I wonder why she got so upset," Caesar similarly wondered as she rubbed her cheek from where Carpaccio had slapped her.

All of the other history buffs, including the girls now, were looking on with awkward looks at the scene as they remained behind a corner.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Fine._

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	79. Kapitel 17,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Siebzehn: Fortsetzung - Es sind die Bedingungen in Anzio!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

" _Eeeeeeh?!_ " Anchovy went in surprise. She also had a face red of embarrassment as she waved her hands around in a gesture saying no. "Taking pictures of me in a bikini?! No way, no way! Nope, just nope!"

"But being _il duce_ means doing stuff like this," another woman told her. She most notably had a black jacket with the International _Panzerkraft_ Federation's logo on the back of it. She then gestured to Anchovy's current outfit, which was her usual outfit. "And that mantle is a no-go!"

" _Ehi,_ come on _duce!_ " Franco encouraged from nearby. He was in some black swim trunks. "You'd look real cute in one!"

"Yeah, don't waste this opportunity," Furio similarly encouraged. He was in the area with some white swim trunks that had an orange stripe along the sides.

"You're really cute, _duce,_ " Carpaccio encouraged from Anchovy's side. She was still in her Anzio uniform. "It'd be a shame to miss out on this."

" _Eh…_ " Anchovy went upon hearing them all. She was quite unsure still of doing what was suggested initially, but now she was considering doing it a bit.

" _Du-u-ce! Du-u-ce!_ " Fernando and Pepperoni started to chant from behind her. Fernando had some orange swim trunks on while Pepperoni kept her Anzio uniform on for the moment.

"Cute, cute, cute, cute…" Carpaccio took the hint and started whispering in Anchovy's ear repeatedly that she would be cute, in an effort to encourage her. It was doubtful that such encouragement had a positive effect on Anchovy, as she was currently wide in the eyes upon figuring out what was happening yet again.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " many Anzio students started to chant.

"Bi-ki-ni! Bi-ki-ni!" many Anzio students chanted as well.

"Want to see! Want to see!" many other Anzio students chanted also.

" _Duce!_ Bikini! _Duce!_ Bikini!" Anzio's crowd chanted also.

"Cute! Bikini! Cute! Bikini!" was also among the chants.

By now, Anchovy had realized she had fallen into another state of peer pressure, and she still didn't know what to do to satisfy the Anzio folks without doing something she didn't want to do, which in this case involved taking a picture while wearing a bikini. It didn't help that Carpaccio was still whispering in her ear how cute she would be along with Pepperoni, Furio, Fernando, and Franco egging on the chants.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later, all was said and done, and Anchovy had succumbed to the peer pressure anyway. She had chosen to do the photo shoot with Franco, Furio, Pepperoni, Carpaccio, and Fernando, while they all wore swimwear.

Now, Anchovy had locked herself in her room for the photo shoot, but outside were still many people knocking on the door and squealing fangirlishly.

" _Duce!_ Please sign this bikini bromide!" one requested.

"Sign this poster, too!" another asked.

"Hey, about the photo album project…" someone began.

" _Duceeee!_ " another called.

" _Duce!_ I'm bringing in some fan letters!" one notified.

"So cute!" one squealed.

" _Duce! Duce!_ " some people started chanting.

Meanwhile, Anchovy was sitting on the floor facing away from the door with her mantle draped over her body. She was covering her very red face with her hands from the sheer amount of embarrassment she felt from doing the photo shoot.

"I hate you five so much…" she muttered with regards to the main five encouragers that were also in the photo shoot with her.

XXXXXXXXXX

To briefly recount what had occurred previously, the students of Anzio High School, who are bluntly honest with themselves, went on a rampage aboard the _Zuikaku._ From that rampage, they had also managed to nab a POW by incident.

XXXXXXXXXX

"HRRRRRR-Hrm!" Pfirsich went. He was still tied up and there was still a strip of tape covering his mouth. But that didn't stop him from looking extremely angry.

He was currently in a locked room that appeared much like a jail cell on the inside. It had no sign of color and practically no amenities besides a basic bed and a toilet beside each other plus a small table across the room. There was a locked metal door with a barred-off space in the upper half and a small door below that allowed people to slip things in from the outside. In one of the walls was a square cutout that was barred over, which served as a window to the outside world.

Also in the room standing before Pfirsich were Anchovy, Carpaccio, and Franco, all in their usual Anzio outfits. Franco was the closest to Pfirsich out of the three, and he and Anchovy were looking down at Pfirsich with awkward looks.

"Well, it's great that you all managed to come back from Ooarai safe and sound, but…" Franco began to address Carpaccio while still facing Pfirsich. "… What exactly were you all planning to do with _him?_ "

"Let's just return him when we head over there next time," Carpaccio suggested. She was the odd one out in that she had a smile on her face that seemed to imply she didn't think much of what was happening, which sharply contrasted with Franco and Anchovy at the moment.

"When exactly _is_ the next time?" Anchovy asked while still looking to Pfirsich.

Franco then tore off the tape from Pfirsich's mouth, which finally allowed him to speak. "Geh!" he went in a brief cry of pain from the tear-off.

"I'll make you follow the Arts of Warfare's regulations concerning the treatment of POWs!" he barked out very loudly, almost as if a beast had just been released from its cage. Franco accordingly stepped back with a start as the other two grew a start as well. "Because you're fucking dreaming if you think I'll yield to the torture of you _Scheißkerle!_ Just try me!"

"Ugh, so noisy…" Anchovy remarked during the tirade.

"Pfirsich Nikolaus, junior in Ooarai!" Pfirsich continued on. "Even if I end up rotting away here-!"

" _Stai zitto!_ " Franco barked as he slammed the bottom of his boot into Pfirsich's face via a kick, which sent him falling back to the ground. He was now silenced after getting knocked out, though his thin glasses were destroyed from the kick, and he also had on his face the tread pattern of Franco's boot now prominent from where it had struck him.

Franco then huffed with a bit of a relieved tone, even while he was still hopped up on adrenaline. "Damn Bavarians don't ever shut up," he said with some tenseness. He then turned to leave out the door. "Someone get him a new pair of glasses. I don't want to hear him whining about how his old ones were smashed."

XXXXXXXXXX

Later when night had fully set in, Pfirsich was now up after getting knocked out earlier. He had some new glasses that Franco had told someone to go and get, and he was currently lying on the bed in the cell looking to the ceiling.

" _Gott,_ to think that I of all people got taken hostage…" Pfirsich mused to himself. "This has to be the biggest blunder in my entire life! And it's because of the ship's security! What the hell was up with them?!"

He shook his head as he looked out the barred opening in his cell, which served to be a window. "Oh, damn that security!" he cursed. "Once I get back there, I won't let them stay that way!" He then grew a more distant expression as he looked up at the moon in the night sky. "Once I'm back… I'll get back, I'll definitely get back… I'll get back to Ooarai… Back to everyone's side…"

He then abruptly stopped himself when another thought entered his mind. "… They must have _surely_ noticed that I'm gone… right?" he thought aloud, but there was a bit of doubt in his voice. "There's no way that… Nononono…"

He then grabbed onto the bars of the window as he looked outside some more. "I'm sure that Mr. President is organizing a rescue squad to come and save me!" he said with a forced determination. "Yes! That's what's happening now! It _has_ to be! … Right?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon enough, morning came. But Pfirsich didn't notice this until he heard the sound of the little door within the main door to the cell open up accompanied by a tray being set down on the ground.

" _Ehi!_ " he heard Furio's voice. "It's breakfast time! Eat up!"

Pfirsich took notice of the food on the tray and grew a bit of disbelief. "Whoa, this is…!" he went with a stunned look.

The food itself was a typical Italian dish of pasta with a salad as a side. The pasta was served hot, and it was delightful in its scent.

Pfirsich then rushed to the little barred window in the door. "Hey!" he called out to Furio. The Italian stopped when he heard the call. "What's with this?!"

"What's with what?" Furio responded with a raised eyebrow. "It's a meal, so eat up."

"A-A meal for me?" Pfirsich asked in disbelief of having a meal offered.

"I thought that was obvious," Furio responded with a face that said he didn't really understand the big deal with Pfirsich's questioning. He then walked off for good. "Eat up!" he called one last time.

Pfirsich looked on for a bit with a lost face, but he was brought out of it when he smelled the delicious pasta he was offered. He looked over to it for a moment.

"… Guess I should eat…" he figured, and he went over to eat the meal. He brought the tray over to the small table and sat down to eat it.

"Mmm, this is fucking tasty," he remarked when he took the first bite. "To hand out such a wonderful meal to a POW…" He then stopped with a start as he widened his eyes. "Wait, don't tell me… Don't tell me that my execution is near?!" He was extremely dreadful now as to what he thought his fate would be.

"Mr. Presideeeeent!" he cried out in an attempt to get help. "Zitruuuuuus! Eriiiich!"

At the same time, Franco was walking by just outside, and he stopped when he heard Pfirsich yell out. He stood nearby looking at the door for a few seconds before he continued walking, but not without staring back at the cell door.

"Man, what a noisy Bavarian…" he observed.

XXXXXXXXXX

After some time passed, it was roughly lunchtime for the Anzio folks. This also meant lunch was being delivered to Pfirsich, this time by Fernando. He was currently walking down the hall to the cell with a plate of warm pasta in hand. He was also in the normal Anzio outfit, and he also had some headphones in his ears. He was absentmindedly singing along with the music coming from them as he walked on without a care in the world.

" _In the heart of holy sea_  
 _In the home of Christianity_  
 _The seat of power is in daaaaaanger_

 _There's a foe of a thousand swords_  
 _They've been abandoned by their lords_  
 _Their fall from grace will pave their path_  
 _To damnation_ "

Fernando snapped out of it when he noticed he had already gotten to the cell. " _Ehiiii,_ POW!" he called out. "I've got your meal for you!"

Pfirsich quickly turned to the window in the door with a sharp glare in his eyes. He then lunged forward like a beast against the bars. "You're late!" he barked with extreme anger.

"Gah!" Fernando jumped back in fear.

"What time did you think it was?! Bring out the meals at the times you've already decided on!" Pfirsich continued scolding. "Keep your slack within tolerable bounds! No excessive slack! And what's with your outfit anyway?!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Fernando tried to apologize.

"You're wearing it like a real lazy buffoon, and in front of an enemy soldier too!" Pfirsich continued unabated. "Have some self-awareness as an officer!"

"But I'm not strictly an officer, per se…" Fernando tried, but he had no change in Pfirsich's intensity.

"Turn off that music!" Pfirsich demanded. "Fasten those buttons on your uniform! Wear that uniform properly and in presentable fashion! Stand up straight!"

 _And so, once resigned to his fate, Pfirsich quickly returned to what he does best: scolding people mercilessly._

"If your attire is not proper, then your mind is also not proper!" Pfirsich scolded later on. He was now in some white clothing as he did some laundry in front of some Anzio students. "Is that understood?! Answer once wholeheartedly!"

" _Si!_ " the crowd answered with confidence as one.

 _At first, it was mostly just venting anger, but Pfirsich's scolding had a very unexpected effect on the Anzio students, who had never taken anything like that seriously prior._

"Why aren't you keeping track of the time?!" Pfirsich barked. He was now in a kitchen in a chef's outfit with some more Anzio students gathered in front of him. "You have to make plans! Look at your watches! Look at the place you're all in!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"If you just keep engaging at your own whim and flee with no regards to where you're going, then how long do you think you'll be missing out on victory?!" Pfirsich barked sometime later. He was now in front of a rolling chalkboard in a normal Anzio outfit. He had a group of Anzio students in front of him taking in everything he said.

He then slammed his hand against the chalkboard in emphasis. "Make sure to hammer both sides' combat strength into your heads, and choose the means that will get you to victory!" he continued. He then pointed to all of them in his scolding. "You are all wolves that are starving for victory! Don't you dare think about dying out until you can raise the triumphant cries of victory!"

" _Urrà!_ " all of the Anzio students cried out together with a determined passion.

 _Not as much time seemed to pass because of it, but let it be known still…_

"Everyone, attention!" Pfirsich ordered later. He was now wearing a black cape in addition to the Anzio outfit he was wearing. He also had a crop in hand as he stood with hands behind his back.

At the order, all of the Anzio students snapped to attention in a professional way. All but one of them held a similar professional look. The one exception was Franco, who now didn't have his usual black cape on. He had his head looking a bit down as he stood there behind and to the side of Pfirsich.

Further to Franco's left was an Anchovy who had deliberately not worn her mantle. This was because she found it disrespectful to Anzio as a whole to stand beside Pfirsich as _Il Duce_ at the moment. To the right of Pfirsich were Carpaccio, Pepperoni, Furio, and Fernando, who did not hold such qualms about standing beside Pfirsich.

 _… That this ended up becoming the rise of a new comandante._

Pfirsich then had a realization within his head. ' _Ach Scheiß, what do I do now?_ ' he thought. ' _I'm all the way at the top now… Might Anzio be a fine place?_ '

"New _comandante!_ " several Anzio students called out.

"New _comandante!_ What are we going to do today?" one asked.

"Ah, yeah, right…" Pfirsich came back to the world with.

Franco turned his head to look to Pfirsich. By now, he had a look of resignation on his face. "Please don't mind some insignificant person like me, new _comandante…_ " he began. "You've done something that not even I or _il duce_ were ever able to do… You reformed Anzio."

He then turned to face Pfirsich in full. "We will be the loyal, faithful subordinates of the new _comandante_ Pfirsich!" Franco proclaimed with a fist to his chest.

"Hey, don't say stuff like that!" Pfirsich barked in a panic. "What is that _comandante_ title all about anyway?!"

"New _comandante!_ New _comandante!_ " many of the Anzio students started to chant, and Pfirsich looked back to them.

He soon grew a calmer and more satisfied look when his mind registered where he was now. ' _Wow, to see my scolding, which was completely ignored in Ooarai, had accomplished all this just from a change in scenery…_ ' Pfirsich thought. ' _Now that I see it, these Italians are rather simple in nature. Once I understood them, I found that they're just a bunch of folks that are really upfront with themselves… Maybe this might be my place for living in peace…_ '

At the same time, there were six people looking around a corner at the edge of the plaza from an alley, and they were observing the events going on. They were the six freshmen that all together made up the air and ground crew for Ooarai's F4F. All of them had on Anzio's normal school uniform at the moment. They all were also armed with their _Maschinenpistolen_ 40.

Matthias determined that they had seen enough from his point closest to the corner, and he made a hand signal to head back. The others nodded, and they moved out. They kept their weapons at the ready for any unexpected encounters as they made their way through some alleys.

Finally, they soon stopped by a metal door in one of the alleys and secured the area. Mesut, Bastian, and Julius held their aim in the direction they came from as they rested on one knee. Christoph and Erik did the same thing, but they aimed in the alley's other direction.

Meanwhile, Matthias knocked on the door twice. A metal slit opened with some brown eyes staring back. "Commanders," they requested.

"Baden-Württemberg," Matthias responded and answered the access question being implied.

"Alright, enter!" the voice beckoned as the slit shut and the lock was undone from the inside.

" _Los!_ " Matthias waved the rest in. The rest exited their perimeter and all six entered through the door. The door was shut behind and immediately locked afterwards.

What awaited them was a storage room filled with some crates here and there. There was a single light hanging directly above the center crate, which had two maps on it, both for the _Aquila._ One was of the top deck from straight above, and the other was of the lower decks via a side view. Around the makeshift table were Anzu, Aprikose, Yuzu, the freshmen girls, the volleyball girls, Caesar, Leonidas, Yukari, Miho, and Erich. All of them wore Anzio uniforms as well.

"So, boys, what's the sitrep?" Anzu asked in her carefree tone as she ate another dried sweet potato.

Matthias and the other freshmen guys stood in the unfilled area around the table, which was the area that pointed to the door. "It seems like Pfirsich is now the _comandante_ of Anzio," he informed as the guys stood at ease. "From what we could see, he seemed to be enjoying the position."

Everyone had different reactions to the information. The freshmen girls and Yuzu all raised their eyebrows with some concerned looks. The volleyball girls didn't hold any particular reaction as they held their attention to the freshmen boys giving the info. Yukari grew a thoughtful expression as she brought a hand to her chin. Miho raised her eyebrows as she thought, as did Erich. Anzu and Aprikose both continued to look lazy at the news as they leaned back against the back of one of the crates.

"Eh, so what?" Aprikose shrugged. "It looks like Pfirsich is enjoying being with the Italians."

"This is a very complicated scenario now…" Yuzu observed a bit timidly.

"Let's just leave him be," Anzu suggested as she held her arms behind her head. She then laughed a bit in amusement at Pfirsich's current title. " _Comandante_ Pfirsich..."

"Madam President…" Yuzu awkwardly responded at Anzu's blunt carefreeness.

"Well if that's the case, then why are we even trying this?" Leonidas asked.

"With all due respect," Yukari interjected as she raised a hand. "I think this is just a clever trap! They're probably trying to make Mr. Nikolaus reveal our secrets by appealing to him!"

"I dunno," Akebi thought aloud amidst the volleyball girls. "Did we have any sorts of secrets again?"

"Beats me," Shinobu responded with a shrug.

"Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah…" Taeko thought aloud with a finger on her chin. She then glanced over to Noriko beside her. "Hey captain, do you know if we have any secrets?"

"I dunno," Noriko responded with a shrug.

"So… Pfirsich…" Aya began among the freshmen girls. "Does he intend to never return?"

"Regarding Pfirsich," Miho began as she voiced her opinion. "Leaving things as they are now might be for the better in the long term."

"Lady Nishizumi…" Yukari said in a conflicted way. She didn't want to accept leaving someone behind, but she also couldn't argue against Miho's opinion, as it did make a lot of sense, hence her conflicted state.

"But," Erich interjected. "I think that this is a problem that only Pfirsich can decide for himself. We'll have to ask him how he feels about the idea, and only upon getting his answer can we carry out the rest of the plan."

"Yes, it's just as Erich says," Aprikose agreed as he stood up. "We'll carry out the operation as planned. But whether or not he wants to return will be up to Pfirsich to decide. Now, Erich, Miho, what's the status for the other operatives?"

Erich and Miho both tapped their ears, which had a small earpiece within them connected to a radio channel being used by Ooarai's current forces. "Hey, TF Pasta and TF Airborne, you there?" Miho asked.

" _Hey, what's up?_ " Anton responded.

" _Hear you loud and clear,_ " Momo responded.

"Hey, you two," Erich greeted. "What's your current status?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, well we secured a path for transport, and now we're about to breach their pasta storage area," Anton reported from the scene. "Anzio cuts no corners with their pasta, so we had to bring out the breaching charges to crack this tough nut."

He was below decks with several other people. There with him were Herz, David, Saori, Mako, and Hana. All had on the all black combat outfits used during the survival fight sometime earlier, and all had their weapons from that fight, too. For Anton, it was an M240B that was currently slung over his back. Herz had a Barrett M82A1, Hana had an Accuracy International AW, Saori had a TAR-21, David had himself a Heckler und Koch HK416, and Mako had a Heckler und Koch _Maschinenpistole,_ the MP7.

All except for Anton were standing guard with weapons ready. Anton was currently setting a charge of Composition 4 on the thick metal door that led to Anzio's pasta reserves. "Charge set! Stand back!" he alerted as he ran to take cover against the wall.

" _Any contact?_ " he heard Erich ask over his comm link.

"Not yet, but we're most definitely about to," Anton responded. "Clear!" He then squeezed the detonator, and the charge went off. It blew the door in and clean off its hinges.

After the smoke that resulted from the blast cleared, Anton dropped down and set up his M240 on its bipod within the hall ahead of the door. "Get the pasta back to the supply ship!" he ordered. "We'll cover you!"

All of the others that were armed took up positions to support Anton as the rest of those that had come along went in and started looting the pasta. Those that had come were the Public Morals Committee, the automotive girls, and the aeronautics guys. Also there were the rest of the history buffs excluding Caesar and Leonidas, but they were not there to take the pasta.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are headlong unto battle once more!" Abe announced. He and the other history buffs were in the outfits they had worn for the survival fight, which also included their weapons for that fight. Abe had his bayonet-equipped Henry rifle, Wolf had his _Fallschirmjägergewehr_ 42, Gustav had his Carolean sabre, Erwin had her _Maschinengewehr_ 42 plus some protective asbestos gloves, Oryou had her katana and musket, and Saemonza had her armor along with her _uchigatana._

Overall positioning at the moment consisted of Saemonza at the very front of the group with Gustav and Oryou accompanying and using her as a shield. Further back were Wolf, Abe, David, Saori, and Mako peeking out of the little crannies provided by the ship's structure they had taken cover by. Behind them close to the door were Anton, Erwin, Herz, and Hana. Anton and Erwin had set up their machine guns on bipods on the floor to cover the hall. Herz and Hana were standing behind them watching down the hall with their sniper sights in the overwatch role.

Saemonza and her two followers were the first to establish contact. Upon hearing many footsteps approach, Saemonza performed a shoulder ram when one of the many, many Anzio students sent to investigate approached her in a charge. "Ngh!" she grunted as the student fell back. "We've made contact!" She then shoved another back. "Back off!"

" _Ehi,_ give us back our pasta!" the Anzio students yelled at the crowd.

"Tough shit!" Gustav barked back. "You shouldn't have stolen _ours!_ " Gustav and Oryou used their swords to hold back the Anzio hordes, but the three of them soon found that there were too many for them to deal with, and they started a fighting retreat as they used their swords against them. They were blunted, of course, to simply incapacitate rather than kill.

"Hey!" Saemonza yelled over to the others further back. "Need some help over here!"

"Got it!" Anton responded from further back. "Take cover!"

"Alright!" Saemonza yelled back. After shoving some away and using their swords to swat away a few more Anzio folks, they took cover in one of the crannies.

"Pastaaaaaa!" the Anzio folks performed a battle cry as they charged forth en masse.

"Engage!" Anton ordered, and a whole hailstorm of bullets came at the Anzio group, courtesy of those armed with guns. Five in a row were immediately dropped courtesy of a .50 caliber round delivered by Herz knocking the lead one back into the four behind them with great force. Two more were dropped by a single shot from Hana. Various others were taken down by the hail of fire from the others.

The Anzio students started to fall over in droves, but they were far more numerous and determined than anticipated, and Erwin realized it as they continued coming forth in the name of pasta.

"Hey!" she called out while firing her MG 42 in bursts. "Conserve ammo! There's a lot more than we thought there were!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to talk to ya later, _Bubi,_ " Anton said over his comms link while still firing his M240 in bursts. "We've got literal tons of Anzio students coming at us now." He then cut transmissions and focused on gunning down droves of pasta-obsessed students.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Right now we're about five minutes out, give or take," Momo responded to the request on their current situation concurrently. She was currently in the copilot's seat in a Boeing CH-47JA, which was flying low over the waves towards the _Aquila._

Zitrus was flying, and Momo was reading the radar and GPS screen among the controls. She found that they were getting close to the _Aquila._

"Five minutes!" Momo barked to the cargo hold after getting off the line.

In the cargo hold were all of the badminton guys in the all black combat outfits and armed with HK416s. Nathan was also there in the same outfit, but he added a _Stahlhelm_ to his outfit and wielded a Heckler und Koch _Gewehr,_ the G11.

"Alright!" Ron responded and began at the same time in the cargo hold. "Check your equipment!"

All of them then checked all of their guns so that they wouldn't let them down along with any other equipment they carried. They also readied their guns at the same time while checking them.

"Good!" Ron called out.

"Good!" Alex called next.

"Good!" Nathan called.

"Good!" Seth called out.

"Good!" Harry called.

"Alright! Get set up!" Ron ordered. "We're about to get into the fire here, so no mistakes! Got that?!"

"Yes, sir!" the others responded. Afterwards, they all moved to the rear of the Chinook as the ramp opened in preparation, and they all held onto ropes hanging down from the roof.

"Man," Nathan went as he looked at the sea passing by. "Water, water, and more fucking water, eh."

XXXXXXXXXX

Back at the dark alley storage room requisitioned by Ooarai students as a planning room, Erich and Miho heard all the information over their comm links, and they then turned to Aprikose and Anzu.

"TF Airborne will be here in five minutes thereabout," Erich began. "But TF Pasta has run into trouble and made contact already."

"If we wait any longer, then we'll be compromised," Miho continued.

"Alright, then," Aprikose nodded before he wolfed down another jerky strip while he stood up from his crate. "Everyone! Ready up, 'cause this is happenin'!"

"Got it!" everyone else confirmed as most of them drew and readied their weapons. Erich had his _Sturmgewehr_ 44\. Yukari had a Mauser M712 _Schnellfeuer._ Aprikose had a Heckler und Koch _Gewehr,_ the G36A2. Yuzu had a Steyr _Armee Universal Gewehr,_ the AUG A3. All of the volleyball girls had FN P90s. The freshmen boys had their MP 40s. The only ones not armed were Miho, Leonidas, Caesar, and the freshmen girls.

"Now, with all said and done," Anzu began as she approached the door. She then pulled back the charging handle with her left hand on the M4A1 carbine she wielded. "Let's get moving, TF _Bayer!_ "

"Understood!" everyone responded. They all left the room together in short order.

They made their way through the surrounding alleys with their guns up and ready in case they ran into trouble. Soon enough, they reached a position at the end of one alley that offered a great view of the main plaza where the Anzio students were gathered. It was in the complete opposite direction that Pfirsich was facing. It was also, by coincidence, the same alley that the freshmen boys had observed from only minutes prior.

At the front, Erich made a halting gesture, and the Ooarai folks stuck to the walls to avoid drawing attention. They observed Pfirsich lecture the Anzio crowd before him for the time being.

"All right everyone!" he continued. "Sun Tzu's Art of War described it as such…"

"Who's that again?" one of the Anzio students asked to the one beside them during the lecture.

"I dunno, um… Was he the guy that wrote that book about traveling to America?" the one next to them responded. They didn't really know the answer.

From the alley, Erich was relatively amused by what was occurring. "'The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep,'" he quoted as Pfirsich said it. He then heard the distinctive sound of helicopter blades start to grow. "And now, it's time for us to flash forth from the topmost point of heaven." He looked to everyone else. "Time to smoke the area out."

"Understood," the others responded as they got out smoke grenades and stood at the ready.

"Now!" Erich ordered. Everyone primed their smoke grenades and chucked them over into the plaza. They clanged a few times along the ground before they started steaming out smoke.

"Huh?" Pfirsich reacted in surprise seeing the smoke start to form. But he soon turned to face above him when he heard the sound of helicopter blades turning almost directly above him. He couldn't see it for the moment, but what was hovering above was the Chinook with its ramp open.

"Wh-What is this?!" Pfirsich wondered with a start as five ropes dropped down to the ground from the Chinook, and down them rappelled five people in all black uniforms with similar color bandanas covering their faces and goggles over their eyes. They were mostly armed with HK416s, but there was one exception that wielded a G11 and donned a _Stahlhelm._

"Invaders!" Pfirsich realized. He turned to where the Anzio folks were. "Blunt the attack… wait, what are you guys-?!"

"Aaaaaah!" many of the Anzio students ran away in panic and left Pfirsich to his fate.

"Oh, damn those fuckers!" Pfirsich cursed the Italians. "Weak when attacked, as always! Well, this will be w-w-where I…" He was growing more cowardly at the prospect of facing the enemies alone in the smoke, but he tried to suppress that as he turned to face them. He was wielding his crop as a weapon in what was clearly a desperate measure. "Bring it on, maggots!" he dared.

"Pfirsich!" one of the enemies called out as they lowered their bandana. The person that called over was Ron, and Pfirsich opened his eyes wide seeing it was him. "Just remain calm! We're here to rescue you!"

By this time, the five that rappelled in adopted a defensive circle around Pfirsich with their guns at the ready for enemies. Also, the Chinook had flown away from the area after fulfilling its current objective.

"Hey, target secured!" Alex notified over his comm link. "Phase two can be executed now!"

" _Verstanden,_ " he heard Miho respond over the line. " _Beginning phase two._ "

XXXXXXXXXX

Although many of the Anzio folks had run away by now, two realized what was going on after recovering from the initial shock.

"Invaders!" Carpaccio and Furio realized as they moved to close with the rescue squad surrounding Pfirsich. "They're trying to get the new _comandante!_ "

"Hey, Carpaccio!" a voice called. Carpaccio stopped and looked to the voice in surprise, for she recognized it.

Her eyes then lit up in delight upon seeing Leonidas standing in the smoke. "Oh! Leonidas!" she called in delight as she rushed forth to him and grabbed his hands with her own.

"Hey, I came to visit," Leonidas revealed with a grin. "Just like I promised I would."

"Aw, jeez," Carpaccio blushed. "Though I would've preferred if you had told me in advance."

Meanwhile, Furio was just watching with a look of exasperated disbelief seeing Carpaccio get so easily distracted. "Oh, forget it," he shook his head. "I'll save the new _comandante_ myself!"

But he stopped as soon as he felt a hand start circling around his body. He recognized the touch as belonging to someone he knew.

"Hey there, Furio…" Caesar's voice greeted him in a flirty tone.

Furio immediately forgot about saving Pfirsich and turned to Caesar with a lusty grin. "Oh, it's been way too long, Caesar…" he responded in a similar lust-filled tone.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Pfirsich!" Pfirsich heard a familiar voice call out to him through the smoke. No longer was he surrounded by the badminton guys and Nathan, as they were now further away, but they still held a perimeter in the plaza.

He turned with a start to see Aprikose, the one who had called out to him, Anzu, Yuzu, Miho, and Erich. He did not miss that all but Miho were armed. Those that were armed had their weapons pointed down and away from Pfirsich, but they were still ready to go in a second.

"M-Mr. President!" Pfirsich hastily reacted in acknowledgment.

"Hey," Aprikose responded with a carefree grin. "We came here to rescue you, but…" He then looked around a bit. "Has this become nothing for us to be concerned over?"

"No!" Pfirsich hastily denied as he stepped back with a foot. "No, this is just…"

"Are you gonna stay in Anzio?" Anzu questioned in a more serious tone with a similar serious look to her face.

"… That's…" Pfirsich began, but grew silent. He knew what Anzu was like when she got serious, and it made him dread speaking to her at the moment.

"Hey, the smoke is starting to clear, eh!" Nathan called back to them from his point in the perimeter. "Hurry up and make a choice!"

Pfirsich closed his eyes as he thought of what to do. He remembered all the times he had scolded people in Ooarai, along with how that scolding was most often ignored. But he also remembered the times he wasn't scolding people. Even if they were hard times, or in some cases painful times, they were now prominent in his mind.

He clenched the cape he wore with one hand as he thought hard. "I'm…" he began, but he didn't continue after some others came up to him.

"Pfirsich!" he heard some voices call out. He looked up to discover that the freshmen girls had run up to him with some expressions that betrayed a sense of urgency in them. "Pfirsich!"

"So even you all came, huh…" Pfirsich observed with a look that displayed some remorse now.

"Pfirsich, are you really going to stay in Anzio?" Karina asked with a face that said she didn't want that statement to be true.

"No, that's…" Pfirsich began, but he didn't get very far when the girls all started to whimper and shed tears.

"I-I-It'll be really lonelyyyyy!" Karina cried out.

"T-This way might be best for Pfirsich, b-but…" Aya began as she and Azusa held onto each other during their crying.

"But…" Azusa tried, but her tears prevented her from continuing.

Pfirsich now had an even more troubled look upon seeing all of the freshmen girls cry over the prospect of him not coming back. "N-No, please girls…" he begged as he reached out for them with a hand. "You don't need to cry over…"

But he was stopped when he felt his cape be taken off of him, and he looked behind him to find out who did it. The one who took the cape was Franco, who now had an understanding grin on his face.

"Former _comandante?_ " Pfirsich wondered in confusion as Franco held the cape in his hands.

"It seems like Anzio isn't destined to be your home," Anchovy observed with a noticeably more gentle voice, but it had no less of an impact than usual. She had come up to Pfirsich's other side with a small grin of understanding. She had chosen to wear her mantle again after predicting how the scene between Pfirsich and the others would play out.

"Don't worry," Franco assured. "You have no need to worry about how Anzio will fare. Because I…" He then flipped and whirled the cape around in one smooth motion so he now wore it the way he did before. " _Comandante_ Franco, will take care of everyone!"

Franco then looked over to one area of the plaza, where the Anzio crowd had by now come back and stood around in. He then pointed to them as he addressed them. "Everyone!" he beckoned. He then waved a hand to the Ooarai folks. "Do not let these intruders out of here! Treat them with no politeness!"

" _Urrà!_ " all of the Anzio students cried out in agreement as they charged for the Ooarai intruders.

"Return fire!" Erich ordered, and everyone in the current group brought up their firearms to the ready. They then opened fire at the Anzio crowd. Several of the Italians dropped over after getting struck by the predominantly assault rifle fire mixed with some submachine guns.

"Fighting retreat!" Miho ordered over her comms link as she led the way away from the charge. "TF _Bayer,_ it's time to exit!"

"Got it!" she heard in response as everyone started to perform a fighting retreat. Yukari was closest to Pfirsich, who was at the front just behind Miho as the Ooarai group ran through the alleys.

Pfirsich was in the meantime glancing back at Franco, who was standing back observing everyone. ' _So once the necessity arises, they all gather at Franco's side like they should, huh…_ ' he noted in his thoughts. He had a slight grin of satisfaction at the thought. ' _Those Anzio folks are really something…_ '

The two of them soon made eye contact with each other. ' _Just hang in there, Pfirsich,_ ' Franco conveyed his thoughts with a single grin.

' _Same to you, Franco,_ ' Pfirsich conveyed his thoughts back with a similar grin.

"Everyone, hold fire!" Erich ordered as he broke contact with the Anzio folks and turned around to run. "Only engage if it's necessary!" As he ran, he reloaded his _Sturmgewehr_ with another magazine.

"Understood!" the others with weapons responded affirmative, and they all broke contact to run. All of them took advantage of the break-off to reload their weapons again.

"Keep running!" Miho instructed at the front as she led them all through back streets on their way to the edge of the _Aquila._ "We need to reach the lower decks, and we need to make sure we don't get cut off by Anzio!"

"Understood!" the group responded again. Among those in the group were Miho, who was serving as the leader and guide for their movements, Pfirsich, Yukari, Nathan, Erich, the badminton guys, the volleyball girls, both groups of freshmen, Yuzu, Aprikose, Anzu, Caesar, and Leonidas. The last two were currently dragging along love-struck versions of Furio and Carpaccio respectively.

All of them soon reached the edge, and were now running down a staircase that descended into the ship proper. The Anzio folks giving chase were not too far behind.

"Badminton guys, volleyball girls, take the lead!" Miho ordered when they exited the stairs onto one of the lower decks.

"Roger!" Ron replied, and all of the sports folks rushed ahead with weapons up and ready. The sports groups continued to run through the lower decks with the main group a little ways behind until they encountered a few Anzio folks after rounding a corner.

"Engage!" Ron ordered. All of the sports folks opened fire at the roughly twenty Anzio students and dropped them all to the ground in a hail of automatic fire.

The group continued on after the threat was eliminated. They came to another hall that had some of the crannies created by the ship's structure.

" _Urrà!_ " they heard two voices yell out as they charged out from behind the crannies. It was Fernando and Pepperoni that were coming straight for the sports groups in a charge.

Ron charged forth and used his HK416 as a plow. He knocked Fernando to the ground and immediately used the stock of his rifle to subdue Pepperoni as he swung it in a typical stock melee takedown. He then looked back to the others in the lead group.

"Hey, get these two tied up!" he ordered. "We need their talents in sports activities!"

"Yes, sir!" the remaining seven responded. They slung their weapons over their backs and quickly tied and bound both the knocked out Italians with some rope and tape.

"Don't worry, this won't take but a few seconds!" Ron assured the others in the group. The Ooarai folks had stopped for a bit to let the sports folks do their things.

"You're kidding me right now…" Erich muttered. He was now ahead of everyone as he scanned the area ahead while on one knee. He then raised his eyebrows in alarm. " _Kontakt voraus!_ "

He immediately opened fire upon spotting several more Anzio students come from ahead. As he was dropping the highly motivated Italians, he also soon heard the sounds of firing MP 40s at the rear of the group along with some other assault rifles and an auto pistol.

"Contact behind!" Matthias called out as he and the other freshmen boys gunned down some more Anzio students coming from behind. Also engaging at the rear were Anzu, Aprikose, Yuzu, Yukari, and Nathan.

"Hurry up, you all!" Erich yelled to the sports groups as he ran out with his current magazine.

"We're done!" Ron called out. "Let's get moving!" The sports groups had finished tying up Fernando and Pepperoni, and Seth and Shinobu were chosen to carry the captives over their shoulders. They did so in a way that they could still fire their weapons.

"Finally!" Erich remarked with some annoyance as he continued reloading his _Sturmgewehr._ "Engage enemies ahead!

All of the sports groups' members consequently opened fire on the Anzio students coming in great numbers from ahead. The Italians were all dropped relatively quickly from the concentrated fire.

"Quick!" Erich beckoned as he ran ahead. "Advance!"

The others didn't have to be told twice as the group mobilized again. The freshmen boys at the back fired at the Anzio folks behind while walking backwards, and soon after they turned to run and reload as they stuck with the group.

XXXXXXXXXX

Over at the pasta storage facility below decks, it was a fierce fight between Anzio and TF Pasta. The Anzio students were slowly pushing forth against a wall of gunfire.

TF Pasta had shifted tactics and placed most of the fire duties on Anton and Erwin with their machine guns while the others stood behind and supported with their own weapons. The wall of fire was mostly provided by the M240 and MG 42 that Anton and Erwin had set up respectively. But the MG 42's barrel soon grew to be red hot after firing a very long burst and taking down several more Italians. The gun soon ran out of ammo, but there was a more pressing concern now rather than its ammunition.

" _Wechseln Gewehrlauf!_ " Erwin called out as she opened the side hatch of the MG 42 and quickly removed the barrel. She then reached into a bag of barrels she carried and pulled out another fresh barrel. The new barrel was inserted and the side hatch was closed. The whole process took around seven seconds, and was followed by a reload with a 250 round belt that took a similar amount of time before Erwin finally ended and pulled back the charging handle. The _Säge_ was then back to gunning down hordes of people, something it was doing better than practically anything else.

During that time, she was covered by the others of TF Pasta as Anton laid down the majority of fire with his M240. Firing in support further back, Herz repeatedly took down multiple Italians with just single .50 caliber bullets from his M82, which was only rivaled by Hana, who had managed to take down at least three at once a few occasions.

"Out!" Anton called out upon exhausting his own ammo supply. After removing the spent box of ammunition, he lifted the feed tray's cover, got another ammo box out from his equipment load, attached it and set the start of the 250 round belt on the feed tray, shut the feed tray cover, and then pulled back the bolt. After performing the roughly seven-second reload, he then opened fire again.

Covering him during his reload were the others. David and Mako had no shortage of their own kills as they gunned down Italian after Italian in controlled bursts. The same applied to Saori, Wolf, and Abe, who also used controlled fire with their weapons to land a large number of accurate shots.

But the Anzio students kept coming forth in hordes. They continued coming back after recovering from the blows they received earlier. Their determination to get the ones that had stolen their pasta was extremely high.

"Pastaaaa!" they cried again as they charged forth. This charge came very close to the wall of gunfire put up by TF Pasta, and it did not go noticed by TF Pasta. They couldn't yet do anything about it besides returning fire, though.

"Heeeey!" they heard Nakajima call out behind. "We've got 'em all cleared out now!" She and the rest of those that were assigned to loot the pasta left the pasta storage facility for the last time. They had finally taken all of Anzio's pasta in retribution for their earlier attack on Ooarai.

"I think it's about time we start falling back, yeah?!" Anton called out over the wall of gunfire.

"Roger!" everyone said in response, and everyone of TF Pasta got out of their camped-in positions and started performing a fighting retreat. They were slowly walking back while continuing to put up a wall of gunfire.

" _TF Pasta, you all still at the pasta storage facility?_ " Anton heard Miho over his comms link.

"Yeah!" he had to practically yell out over the sheer amount of gunfire. They were still slowly walking back as they put out their fire. "We finished the looting and now we're slowly falling back, but they're pushing us real hard! I'm sure each of us has at least a hundred individual kills by now!"

" _Ah, well watch your fire to the stairwell on your right rear,_ " Miho notified. " _TF Bayer is coming through there._ "

"Got it!" he replied, and the line went dead. "Hey! Friendlies coming from right rear! We need to cover their approach, so hold your ground!"

"Understood!" he received the group's confirmation. The entire conversation was overlaid with the massive amount of gunfire they were still dumping out towards the Anzio hordes. After the confirmation, they all stopped walking back, and they stood their ground against Anzio's hordes of pasta-obsessed Italians.

All of those with firearms continued dumping bullets into the Italians in an effort to hold them back, but the Anzio hordes were still pushing forth a bit.

"Hey! Saemonza!" Anton yelled out. "Get Gustav, Oryou, and Abe and get to the front! We need you to make a counterattack!"

"Got it!" Saemonza responded from the middle of the crowd. "Let's go! This is our moment of glory!"

The history buffs chosen to counterattack all made their way through the group and wielded their melee weapons.

"Everyone, charge!" Saemonza ordered as she led the counterattack from the very front with her armor. The four history buffs charged forth and held their upper bodies lower. Such a strategy proved to work in two ways. First, the others could still shoot over them and assist. Second, they could literally sweep the Italians off their feet by nailing them in the middle of their body at the hips.

The entire plan worked out for the moment as the Anzio hordes were stopped by the counterattack. They were jolted back by the initial impact of Saemonza colliding with them in her armor using herself as a battering ram and with her _uchigatana_ drawn. The Italians were further held back by the other history buffs charging forth with their melee weapons at the ready.

But the Anzio hordes were able to soon turn the tables. "Pastaaaaa!" they cried out again as they renewed their charge. They had started pushing back the counterattack, but it was a very slow process. The four history buffs were pushing back as well, and they had soon equalized the pushing match into a stalemate where neither side advanced.

"Back the _fuck_ off!" Saemonza grunted out as she repeatedly jabbed her _uchigatana_ into whoever was directly in front of her. She was taking on the brunt of the Anzio hordes with her large and heavy armor. On her flanks were the other three that were with her, and they were similarly repeatedly thrusting their melee weapons into the hordes of pasta-obsessed Italians. Abe on occasion shot a round from his gun into whatever Italian was unfortunate enough to be right in front of him.

All the while, scores of Italians were still being dropped as quickly as they came back up by the rest of the group with their firearms. But soon enough, behind them through the stairwell came TF _Bayer_ as they entered the hall.

"TF Pasta, fall back!" Erich called out. "TF _Bayer_ is here!"

"Saemonza!" Anton called out. "Break off! Time to fall back!"

"Get out of my face!" Saemonza taunted one last Italian that she thrusted her _uchigatana_ towards. The Anzio student stumbled back and fell to the ground, and Saemonza and her group took advantage as they pulled back.

They ran back just in time, as the Anzio hordes that were chasing TF _Bayer_ just came down the stairwell to link up with the Anzio hordes that were pressing TF Pasta hard.

"Pastaaaaa!" they all angrily called out as a battle cry in another charge forward. But the Ooarai folks did not turn back to fire.

"Keep running!" Miho ordered as she led the group through the maze of halls in the _Aquila's_ hull. Through the halls and around corners, they got to one corner and rounded it. Miho picked this time to try an idea out. "Anton! Erwin! Distract them for a bit!"

"Got it!" both responded as they fell to the rear. Both took aim at the corner they just rounded as they slowly walked backward, and as soon as Anzio students came from behind it, they unleashed a hailstorm of machine gun fire. The fire stunned the Italians for a bit, as it was unexpected at that moment, and they were forced back a bit because of it. But their jam did not last much longer than several seconds, and they stubbornly pushed onwards again.

"Think it's time to get moving!" Erwin suggested to Anton. Both of them ceased fire and ran back to catch up with the Ooarai folks.

"Just a little more running!" Miho tried to encourage as she led the way for the rest. They were nearly at the end, as they could see the light at the end of the hall that led to the docking area for smaller boats and ships. "Then we'll be home free!"

The long line of Ooarai operatives soon had its front reach the docking area, and everyone started gathering into two rigid-hulled inflatable boats. "Get on!" Miho ordered as she led the boarding. "Hurry up!"

"Hey, _Bubi!_ " Anton called out from the rear. Some of the Anzio hordes were starting to catch back up to the group's rear, which was still in the halls. "You see anything that can cause an obstruction if, say, a charge was blown on it?! 'Cause those guys are catching up!"

Erich heard the question and started looking ahead for anything that fitted Anton's request. The only things he could possibly see that fitted such a description were the pipes running along the top of the hall. He saw nothing else that would work, and blowing the pipes he figured weren't as useful of an obstruction in this scenario. But it was better than nothing. Plus they were getting to the end of the hall, so they had to do something now.

"The pipes above!" Erich called out to Anton. He had fallen back a ways to the rear, and was now firing a few bursts at the Anzio hordes with his _Sturmgewehr_ to keep them back from the two machine gunners. "Chuck one up there!"

"Alright!" Anton responded. He slung his M240 on his back and grabbed another charge from his equipment. Originally intended as a spare breaching charge if the first one was faulty, it was now being used to aid their escape as he chucked it up at the pipes with his right hand. He stormed through the corridor to the docking area, and as he jumped onto a boat, he used the detonator in his left hand to blow the charge.

Erich was a little further back as he fired on the Anzio folks a little more while strafing backwards, but he soon turned around and started sprinting to the boats. The charge went off just after he came through the corridor. At the same time, he jumped onto one boat in a way that made the moment appear very dramatic as the blast went off behind him, with him airborne in a long jump type of jump as he held his _Sturmgewehr_ with just one hand.

The explosion caused some ear ringing in the Italians' ears for several seconds. The ear ringing was made even worse since the hall was a confined area with no way of dissipating the blast besides through the length of the hall itself, so the blast was much more deafening than it normally would've been.

Although they were far enough back to avoid the lethality of the blast, the shockwave of the explosion still forced much of the Anzio horde back, but what also was forcing them back now was the plumbing being run through some of the pipes that were now broken and spraying their contents down into the hall, all under pressure. Hot water, normal tap water, sewage, compressed air, and compressed nitrogen were among those pipes in the roof of the hall. Bits of shrapnel from the burst pipes also found their way into the mess.

On his boat, Erich landed in a crouch of sorts, and the two boats immediately sped off with each other. The Anzio hordes had unexpectedly recovered rather quickly, only several seconds to be specific, from the initial blast, mostly because of their current mood of making those who took their pasta pay dearly. But they had stopped at the edge of the docking area after realizing they could not give chase anymore.

XXXXXXXXXX

Up on the higher decks, Franco and Anchovy were watching the boats speed away with the Ooarai folks aboard them along with some other Anzio students. Also just barely visible was a supply ship sailing through the waves in the same direction as the boats were.

"Ah, so they escaped…" Anchovy remarked, but she did not appear disappointed by the fact judging by her slight grin.

"Should we pursue, _duce_ and _comandante?_ " one of the Anzio students asked. The others besides Franco and Anchovy appeared to still be fired up to take down the Ooarai folks, but Franco and Anchovy did not appear to be upset at the missed opportunity.

"No, just let them be," Franco responded with a slight grin of satisfaction on his face. "It doesn't matter what we do now, considering they're already long gone."

A brief moment of silence set in, and Franco looked around upon not hearing anything. He then noticed something was amiss, and the rest of the group followed as they also grew looks of confusion.

"But even though that's fine…" Franco began. "Did we somehow lose some people?"

He said such a thing because he could not find Furio, Fernando, Carpaccio, or Pepperoni anywhere in the group.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile riding over the waves were the two boats used in Ooarai's escape. Soon appearing over the waves was a CH-47JA with its ramp lowered. The Chinook soon slowed to a hover a distance ahead of the boats and hovered very close to the water. It was hovering so close that it was actually _in_ the water ever so slightly.

"Let's get inside," Miho ordered over her comms link. In response, the boats aimed to sail directly into the Chinook's cargo bay, one behind the other. The first one sailed in, and the second followed. Once the second boat was in, the Chinook applied more power and began to gain altitude to get out of the water. The ramp was then shut.

Everyone inside immediately relaxed after getting into safety, and they dismounted from the boats. Miho went over to the cockpit to get a word in with Momo.

"Hey, Momo," she began in the doorway. Momo turned her attention towards her in response. "Is the supply ship loaded with what we came for?"

"Yes," Momo nodded affirmative. "All of Anzio's pasta is aboard."

Miho grew a relieved smile. "Oh, great," she remarked with some exhaustion. "Thanks."

Momo nodded as she turned back to copiloting duties, and Miho turned back to head into the cargo hold again.

"I've got to remember to thank _Hauptmänner_ Chouno and Honda for lending us this helicopter…" she noted to herself. She then came back to the real world. "Everyone!" she began in a louder voice. She drew everyone's attention to her, and she had a relieved smile still on her face. "Mission success!"

"Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah!" all the others roared in celebration. They had completed both of their main objectives in their raid. They had rescued Pfirsich, and they had pillaged all of Anzio's pasta in retribution for their attack on Ooarai.

"All thanks to your good planning, Miho," Anzu came up beside Miho with a friendly slap on the shoulder. She also had a grin of accomplishment on her face.

" _Hä?!_ " Miho reacted as she flushed red in embarrassment. She then waved her hands around in denial. "No, no, that wasn't me at all! That was _Bubi's_ work!"

" _Suuuuure_ it was…" Anzu rolled her eyes in amusement at her shyness. She then took a greater look around the cargo hold and grew a more awkward smile at what she saw. "But did we somehow have an increase in people?"

"It's just your imagination!" several people responded. Those that had answered were both of the sports groups, Leonidas, Carpaccio, Furio, and Caesar. The badminton guys were still carrying around a tied up Fernando, and the volleyball girls still had a tied and bound Pepperoni that they were all carrying.

Both Fernando and Pepperoni were now awake and were trying to struggle against their binds. They had both been tied by the ankles, by the wrists, around the torso, and even around the eyes. There were ropes tied around their heads that went directly over their eyes. Finally, both had their mouths taped over, yet they were still grunting in an effort to speak anyway.

Suffice to say that all of those Ooarai folks that had responded had more personal reasons for bringing along those particular Italians.

Pfirsich soon gave off a sigh. "Everyone…" he beckoned, and everyone turned their attention to him. "I really caused you all a lot of trouble this time… I want to give my sincerest apologies for that…"

All of the freshmen girls started to grow hopeful smiles at his words, as if anticipating his return.

"But also…" Pfirsich continued as he grew a very slight smile, but it appeared much more heartfelt now with the given scenario than it would otherwise. "I want to thank you… I know full well that you didn't have to go to all this trouble to rescue me. You could've simply left me there. That's why I thank you all for actually going to all that trouble to come get me."

Erich and Miho, both beside each other now, grew some proud grins at what they were seeing. Seeing all of those that came for Pfirsich being properly acknowledged by him for their efforts warmed both of their hearts. Neither of them really cared too much whether or not they themselves were acknowledged, but seeing everyone else grow more at ease by knowing their efforts were not wasted in the least was very satisfying to both of the Germans.

Erich then remembered something he wanted to do now that he noticed Carpaccio was also aboard. He started over to her.

"Hey, you," he beckoned as he pointed to her while he approached.

Carpaccio turned to face the voice she heard, but she immediately grew a look of dread upon seeing Erich was the one who spoke to her.

"We're going to have a _long_ talk about what you said the other day…" Erich said with a threatening undertone as he dropped his hand. He also held a similar threatening glare at her.

Carpaccio gulped in fear of that voice and shuddered in fear. " _Oh cazzo,_ " was all she could say under that gaze.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day rolled around, and everyone that took part in the great Anzio raid was now back to their normal lives. Well, for the most part.

In the student council office of Anzu was Pfirsich, who was standing before the desk of the President. Also in the office were all of the freshmen girls who were all following Pfirsich around. They did such things mostly because they were just glad to have him back, even if he had scolded them a lot in the past. All wore their normal school outfits now.

"With all being said and done," Pfirsich began. "I do have the intention to start over on a fresh slate, but there are still some open questions regarding the ship's security." He then coughed in implication for his next statement. "Particularly as of _recently…_ "

"Hey girls!" Yuzu called out as she came through the door. She was now carrying a tray of some small plates with some food on them. "The Nourishment Department gave us some trial products they made, so eat up!"

"Yeah!" the freshmen girls cried out in delight as they swarmed around Yuzu.

"Hey!" Pfirsich barked out in anger at the current scene. Although he wasn't necessarily interrupted in his statement from earlier, he was still not too pleased to see the diversion of everyone's attention to a matter that was relatively insignificant in his mind.

He soon breathed out and calmed down a bit. "Fine, then," he acquiesced as he continued on anyways. "Since the work dealing with public relations has almost surely backed itself up, we should get moving on that."

"Don't worry, I took care of everything," a voice said. Pfirsich looked to find it was one of the many, many members of the Public Morals Committee judging by their armband. They were also distinct as having some thin glasses, not unlike the ones Pfirsich normally wore. They also carried a stack of papers with them.

"Ah, well then the practices…" Pfirsich tried next.

"It's all under control," he heard another voice. He turned to find it was yet another member of the Public Morals Committee, wearing the same thin glasses. "Madam President appointed me to take care of your share." This one also had some papers they carried.

Pfirsich grew a heavily discouraged look mixed with an equally heavy look of disbelief at the idea that he was replaced during his absence.

Meanwhile behind her desk, Anzu laughed a bit awkwardly. "Those guys are here just because I wasn't sure whether Pfirsich would come back or not…" she explained. She then waved her hand around in a dismissive manner. "But just think of it as a long break for you."

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time later, Pfirsich stepped off the back of a cargo ramp for an Alenia C-27J belonging to the Anzio _Aereo Stormo._ He was wearing some casual clothes, which consisted of some _Lederhosen_ and a plaid button-up short-sleeve shirt. The shirt's pattern alternated between white and blue square patches, which appeared similar to the pattern for the Bavarian _Rautenflagge._

The C-27J had landed on the airfield aboard the _Aquila._ Franco was there at the airfield after he had gotten word of an arrival. But he grew a very confused look upon discovering it was Pfirsich.

"Oh, is something wrong?" he asked with some politeness in his voice now. "Or did you perhaps forget something?" Franco really had no idea why Pfirsich was there.

XXXXXXXXXX

And it's back to square one.

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. The music belongs to Sabaton. Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	80. Kapitel 18,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Achtzehn: Es ist Katjuschas Porträt!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Kiev_ on another day that was as normal as it can be when Russians are involved, practically all of Pravda's Arts of Warfare members were assembled together. The area of assembly was in front of the Pravda _Panzerkraft_ hangars. Some of those present were talking amongst each other for the moment.

"So Comrade Katyusha had us all assemble so suddenly," Ivan remarked to Igor beside him. "You have any idea as to what she has planned?"

"Not a clue," Igor shrugged. "I dunno, maybe she forgot to say something during morning assembly?"

"Well, there's also the fact that she looks _really_ prideful right now…" Ivan observed. He then chose to take a drink out of a vodka bottle he had with him.

"Yeah…" Igor nodded slowly in agreement. "That's starting to give me a bad feeling about this now…"

At the very front and facing the crowd were Pravda's main leaders: Katyusha, Nonna, Sasha, and Nudelmann. All of them, including the Pravda students gathered before them, were in the normal Pravda school outfits.

Katyusha had a look of pure confidence as she stood with a confident grin and with her arms crossed. She looked like she was very prideful about something. Nonna, Sasha, and Nudelmann were beside her on each side wearing relatively neutral looks, such that they could easily pass off as Katyusha's bodyguards. Also at the front, and where the Pravda foursome was standing at the moment, was something about as tall as Nonna covered by a white sheet.

"Everyone!" Katyusha began and drew all of the attention to her. "I have called you to gather here because I have an announcement to make!" She then turned to Nonna. "Nonna, if you would, please!"

Nonna nodded and whiffed off the white sheet from the object, revealing what it was. The object was a statue carved out of stone, with no base, that was modeled after someone vaguely resembling Katyusha. The head was almost a match, but the body was far more grown up and mature in appearance, on the scale of Nonna's body. Also notable was the Pravda uniform carved in great detail into the statue itself. This version of Katyusha was pointing off in a specific direction with a heroic stance.

"So as to properly commemorate our victory in the 62nd International High School Arts of Warfare Tournaments, we have made this stone statue of Katyusha!" Sasha informed on Katyusha's behalf as he gestured to the statue with a hand. "Now bow down before the brave figure of Pravda's heroine now carved into the pages of history books everywhere!"

Upon registering the sight of the Katyusha statue, Ivan performed a spit take with his vodka in shock of the sight.

Sasha and Katyusha heard the spit take, and both of them grew death glares at the crowd for their perceived reason as to why a spit take was done.

"Who was it?!" Sasha barked out in an interrogatory manner. "Who was the one who performed that spit take?!"

The two on either side of Ivan, Igor and Alina, immediately turned away their heads, pretending they did not see anything and implying that Ivan was to blame.

" _Nyet, nyet,_ that was…!" Ivan denied while shaking his hands in denial. He was denying his spit take in a relatively desperate manner with how his face appeared. He thought quickly for something that would appease the leaders, and he soon got it as he lowered his hands a bit. "I-I was just so surprised by how splendid the figure appears… It looks magnificent!"

"Ah, you say that, you say that…" Sasha grew more accepting with a friendly boast, as if buying Ivan's hastily made excuse. Katyusha seemed to buy it too, as she returned to her previous state of simply looking prideful of her statue.

Sasha then sighed a bit as he closed his eyes and shook his head in dissatisfaction. "But the sculptor misunderstood the request at first and made Katyusha _this_ tiny with their first sculpture," he explained as he gestured to another statue. This statue was completely scaled to the size of the real Katyusha, and thus represented what she was really like, but it was otherwise identical in stance to the bigger statue of her. "It sure took a lot of effort to get it revised."

"That one was just humiliating," Katyusha similarly said with a similarly dissatisfied tone.

"Do not worry. The sculptor shall be purged," Nudelmann vowed. He was holding the smaller Katyusha statue steady by the head.

"Nonna, could you please dispose of that one?" Katyusha requested as she made a shooing motion with one hand to the side.

" _Da,_ " Nonna responded. ' _Da, moya devochka,_ ' she fondly thought to herself with a grin of satisfaction.

Sasha and Nudelmann hastily looked to her upon hearing that she was taking the statue to dispose of it. ' _Remember our plan with that one!_ ' they both conveyed via facial expressions.

Nonna rolled her eyes briefly and returned a look that said, ' _I know, I know. I'm taking it to a safe place._ '

Both of the Russian boys grew more relieved and at ease looks upon seeing Nonna confirm the plan all three had made for the smaller statue prior. That moment was also when Nonna took the smaller statue and walked off to perform the 'disposal' of it.

Some other people were looking at the scene with odd looks of either confusion or disbelief. They couldn't discern what exactly was exchanged between the three, but they were in the right direction with their thoughts.

"What are they planning with that?" Alina muttered in wonder as she stared at the scene. She knew that the three normally around Katyusha were planning something, but what exactly it was remained lost on her.

' _Dear God, I've never seen that kind of smile from Comrade Nonna before!_ ' Nina thought to herself with a somewhat shocked look of disbelief in reference to Nonna's seemingly delighted grin.

"But continuing on!" Katyusha beckoned everyone's attention to her once more. She was now leaning against the larger of the statues with one hand on it. "This is a complete commemoration to that international victory! And as a special service to everyone, I'll let you all take pictures of it for free! Take as many as you like!"

While some of the Pravda folks immediately started to take some pictures of the statue with their phones, Ivan grew a more carefree look as a thought came to his mind. "With the pictures you take of it, I imagine you'll usually end up saying something like, 'Who's that?' every time you look through them," he commented in a thoughtless manner.

"Hey, shut it Ivan!" Igor whispered over to him with a bit of urgency upon hearing the relatively flippant comment from him.

Immediately, Katyusha and Sasha grew looks of simmering anger at Ivan for his comment, and Ivan appropriately reacted as he pulled out his phone in a hasty manner to try and avoid their wrath. " _Akh, nyet,_ it's just that the one I just took had the face obscured because of just how bright the halo was shining…!" he explained in a panicked tone. He hastily took a photo of the tall Katyusha statue with his phone. "Well, thanks for the photo! I'll make this my permanent wallpaper!"

Again, Katyusha and Sasha seemed to buy Ivan's excuse as they relaxed once more. "Ah, that's great, comrade!" Sasha praised Ivan for making the photo his eternal wallpaper. "Now that being said, you're all free to take a look at it from up close!"

Katyusha made a beckoning motion and gestured to the statue as well. "Come on and take a good look at this grand figure!" she encouraged. During this time, Nonna had also come back from 'disposing' of the smaller Katyusha statue. She was now amongst the rest of the crowd.

The rest of the Pravda crowd chose to do as Katyusha suggested and take a closer look at the Katyusha statue. The closest to it was Ivan, who was currently inspecting it very closely.

" _Vau,_ it sure is made with quality…" Ivan observed. He then took notice that the statue had the details of Pravda's clothes implemented into it. "Even the really small details are well done…"

He chose to touch the statue's skirt to feel its texture. He grew a childish smile both at being able to do such a thing along with confirming how detailed the statue was.

But he did not take notice that because of his touch, the statue started to stagger a bit as it came to be unbalanced. The statue started to tip over and fall down to the ground, and only during that time did Ivan notice what was happening as he grew a look of dread.

The statue crashed to the ground and shattered into numerous pieces, large and small. Immediately, those Pravda folks closest to him turned away, silently denying their involvement. Ivan kneeled down, now with an extremely nervous and dread-filled face, as he tried to hastily put the statue back together. But he soon took in a quick breath of fear when he felt the presence of someone else behind him.

That someone else was Nudelmann, who had come over so he now stood behind him and towered over him. Nonna stood to Ivan's left doing the same thing. Katyusha stood to his left. Sasha stood to the front of him. All four were wearing intense glares at him for breaking the statue. Both Sasha and Katyusha had veins popping from their foreheads as well.

Ivan was, understandably, terrified in his current scenario as he shook in fear. "Um…" he began with a similar tone of fear. "No, that was just… uh…"

"Comrade Ivan," Nudelmann began in his usual calm tone, but such a tone only served to instill more fear in Ivan. "I had thought you were a suspicious person for a long time now…"

"So you finally choose to plaster Katyusha's pride with mud!" Sasha growled out in what was clearly restrained anger. He had a look similar to that of a wolf hunting its prey as he bore his teeth and clenched his fists.

"I-I-I-It's all over now…" Ivan groaned out, now fully in belief of what his fate was as he stared into the predatory look on Sasha's face. "This is the end of Ivan…"

"Comrade Katyusha!" one of the other Pravda folks began as they came to a stop nearby. They had previously been running into the area.

Everyone surrounding Ivan momentarily turned away to divert their attention to the one who had spoken.

"There are visitors from Schwarzwaldspitze and Saunders!" the Pravda informant notified. "They're coming in one after another!"

Katyusha and Sasha both grew alarmed looks upon hearing that information. Nudelmann and Nonna both remained calm as they both stood beside Ivan, who now was more surprised about the intervention itself than by what it was about, considering that said intervention effectively spared his life for the moment.

The distinctive whooshing sounds of prop wash and of turboprop engines soon became prevalent, and the Pravda folks turned their attention to them. Approaching from opposite the hangars in the air were two transport aircraft. One was a Lockheed C-130J that had Saunders' markings on it in the typical American pattern of markings on the upper left wing surface, lower right wing surface, and on the fuselage sides. The other was an Airbus A400M that had Schwarzwaldspitze's Iron Cross markings on all wing surfaces and both sides of the rear fuselage.

Both were on the landing approach as they prepared to land directly in front of the Pravda _Panzerkraft_ hangars. The hangars had a small field that extended ahead of it a decent distance. Although the field's length was short enough that it would normally prohibit any modern large multi-engine aircraft from landing there, that wasn't the case for these two transports.

Schwarzwaldspitze's A400M came in first with gear and flaps lowered. It touched down at a relatively slow and docile speed, and it steered off to the side as it came to a stop very close to the left-most sections of the Pravda crowd. Saunders' C-130J followed immediately as it descended at a slow speed with flaps and gear lowered, and it touched down several seconds later. It then steered and stopped beside the German transport, and both began to shut down their turboprops.

After the whooshing from the turboprops finally died away some time later, both of the transports opened their rear cargo ramps as well as their fuselage doors, and out from both planes came some particular people. For the Americans came Kay, Alisa, Naomi, Chuck, Ray, and Christian. For the Germans came Maho, Erika, the _Panzer_ III Commander, the _Panther_ Commander, the _Jagdpanther_ Commander, the _Maus_ Commander, Koume, Alfred, Hans, the Bf 109 Pilot, the Fw 190 Pilot, the Ta 152 Pilot, and the Ho 229 Pilot.

All of the new arrivals wore their respective schools' usual school uniform. They also all appeared to have their usual attitudes in place as they met up behind the center sections of the Pravda crowd. The Americans were their usual carefree selves while the Germans were in their more natural states of greater discipline.

"Ah, hey Alfred!" Kay called out to Alfred in a friendly way. "Long time no see! So, you all got called out by the Russians, too?"

"Our ships just so happened to be sailing relatively close to each other," Alfred coolly responded in a professional way.

' _Why are you so friendly to her?!_ ' Erika angrily thought to herself nearby. She had grown a look of huge jealousy at seeing the interaction between Kay and Alfred, though exactly why she was so jealous remained unknown.

"Yeah, it seems like they called out to all of the ships that were close by," Ray observed on a tablet he held. "What a bothersome disruption."

"Because of that, we ended up having to end practice early," Christian noted. He then shrugged in a dismissive manner with a slight grin. "But I'm not complainin' about that."

"So I wonder what they wanted to show us?" Koume wondered amidst the German-American group with a polite smile. Most of the others there, mainly the Germans but also some of the Americans, were looking around the area and keeping wary of their surroundings. Neither side really trusted Pravda so much for historical reasons, which was why they preferred to remain wary when around them.

"Guh, I completely forgot!" Sasha realized. "Agh, we called you because we really wanted to show you all Katyusha's glory, but…" He scratched his head furiously as he tried to think. He then looked behind him to try and get an idea.

"Hurry and put that back together!" Katyusha barked behind her with a huge sense of urgency. Behind her was where the destroyed statue was. Currently kneeling around it and trying to find a way to reconstruct it were Nina, Alina, Ivan, and Igor. Watching over them were Nudelmann and Nonna.

"That's just ridiculous, though…" Sasha noted with his more mechanically apt state of mind as he looked on at the attempted reconstruction, which was going horribly.

"Sasha!" Katyusha turned to address him. She was looking like she was desperate for a way to rebuild the statue. "Please tell me that this can be fixed!"

"Well…" Sasha tried to think up a way to break the news to her in a way she would both understand and be able to accept. "Sorry to say it, but in _that,_ " he gestured with a hand to the statue, "state, there's no way that it'll get rebuilt quickly, if at all."

Katyusha turned back to the statue's remains as her mind raced for any possible ideas. She soon got one as she picked up the head. "Well maybe with just the head, I can present it as avant-garde art…" she figured as she held the head of the statue above her own. It was clearly too heavy for her to lift comfortably, as her arms were shaking from holding it.

"That's just _too_ avant-garde, right there," Nudelmann noted as he observed the scene.

Also watching the scene with quite a bit of remorse showing on his face was Ivan. ' _What have I done…_ ' he thought in shame. ' _Because of my actions, Comrade Katyusha is going to lose face… All because I carelessly destroyed her stone statue…_ '

He soon raised his eyebrows with a slight start upon remembering it was a stone statue. ' _Wait, stone statue… Wait just a minute!_ ' he thought as he grew an enlightened look.

"But there _is_ one that can still be used!" Ivan suddenly exclaimed. His exclamation drew the attention of all four of Pravda's leaders as they all looked to him. "We can still do this properly! We can just use that one statue that comrade Nonna had taken before! The first one that was tiny!"

Nonna quickly comprehended Ivan's words as she raised her own eyes in enlightenment. "Actually, now that you mention it…" she began.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few moments later, the original small statue of Katyusha was brought out to the area by Nonna and put on display for all of the guests to see.

"So!" Sasha began. He was purposely trying to look as cheerful as possible, even though he very much thought that this idea would end in disaster. Katyusha thought similar things beside him, though it was more obvious with her greater honesty in projecting her emotions. "What do you all think about Katyusha's gallant figure? Tell us your impressions to becoming witnesses of history!"

"Woo!" some people called out as a huge applause of clapping came forth. Everyone from both Saunders and Schwarzwaldspitze were clapping in approval. The boisterous Americans were more animated in their applause than the more stern and reserved Germans were.

" _Aaa,_ applause?!" Katyusha wondered in pure disbelief that they were cheering for the small statue of her.

"Well, since it's about you, Katyusha…" Chuck began as he stood amongst the Americans. "I just thought you'd make yourself look much taller than usual."

"I thought you'd make it more adult-like," Alisa opined.

"All in all, I figured you'd give it a 'Who's that?' kind of feeling to it," Naomi interjected as she stretched her arms behind her head.

"So this is unexpectedly frank in my eyes," Hans also interjected with his own views.

"U-Uh- _Nyet!_ There's no way I'd do anything like that!" Katyusha hastily denied with a bit of embarrassment at being so easy to figure out. "What are you saying… really now…"

"But regardless," Maho spoke up. "It's true that the glory of being the 62nd's champions belongs to you. Congratulations." She ended with a polite clap. All of the Germans there followed with a polite clap, and some even offered some congratulatory smiles as well.

"R-Really?" Katyusha asked in disbelief still. "… Well, thanks…"

Sasha, however, was looking more dissatisfied with the congratulatory applause as he glared at Alfred. ' _Cherniy chort, you know full well that we didn't earn that victory!_ ' he tried to convey to him via his facial expression.

Alfred could see his look as clear as ice, and he returned it with a look that said, ' _Now's not the time to debate that incident, Techniker._ '

Sasha huffed in dissatisfaction with Alfred's response. He wasn't pleased with it judging by his still dissatisfied look.

Meanwhile, Ivan was watching the entire scene play out between Sasha, Katyusha, and the Germans and Americans, and beside him was Nudelmann. Nudelmann took the time to glance over to him. "Let's just call this a lucky break," he began.

Ivan looked to him upon hearing him speak up, and he diverted his attention to Nudelmann's words.

Nudelmann continued with a slight grin, "I just had this great feeling that we could close the gap between all of them by showing them the first, most honest version of the statue without any of those strange decorations or details."

"Ah…" Ivan acknowledged as he slowly nodded and raised his eyebrows.

"And this was all because of you, Comrade Ivan," Nudelmann continued on. " _Spasibo._ "

Ivan grew a surprised yet delightful smile as he brought his hands up. "Oh no no, it's nothing like that!" he humbly denied while waving his hands around in a gesture saying no as he stumbled backwards from his surprise. "You're being too kind…"

He did not notice that as he stumbled back that he had also ran into the smaller Katyusha statue. He did not notice the impact because of the smaller size of the statue and hence lighter weight.

The smaller Katyusha statue toppled over like the larger one earlier, and as the larger statue did, it shattered as it crashed to the ground. Ivan immediately turned his attention to it as he grew yet another extremely nervous look mixed with dread. From behind him, he could also feel the intense glares from four people, and he just knew already that they were Katyusha, Sasha, Nonna, and Nudelmann.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ivan has found himself in a situation that can't be talked out of.

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	81. Kapitel 19,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Neunzehn: Es ist Dafas Rückzahlung der Dankarbeit!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Yet another day had just begun aboard the _Zuikaku,_ and all the students were making their way to the school. As many students strode through the main gate, they ended up passing by the Public Morals Committee members that were assigned to take attendance of everyone passing by.

"Morning," Lemu greeted people as they passed by him. He was there along with Sodoko, Kolari, Satiainen, Gomoyo, and Pazomi making sure everyone was there and accounted for. Since it was getting to be time for classes, everyone was in their school uniforms.

"Morning," Sodoko greeted various students as they passed by while she marked them off as present on her tablet. She took a quick look at the time on it. "Everyone, it's almost time for the first bell!" she announced to everyone who was nearby. "Better hurry up!"

Lemu looked around the area to observe that everyone heard, but he stopped that action as he took a greater interest in three particular people approaching the gate. "Wait a minute, aren't they…?" he wondered as he took a closer look at them.

The three people he spotted approaching the gate were Erich-Dietrich Hartmann, Miho Nishizumi, and David Faul from right to left. Miho had one arm slung over David's shoulders and another slung over Erich's shoulders. The two boys each had an arm slung over Miho's shoulders for support as Miho stumbled to the gate while dragging both of the dead tired boys. All three had their bags over their shoulders as well. With their uniforms, Erich had his usual jacket and stringed scope, while Miho had, yet again, worn the _Ritterkreuz_ she was gifted around her neck.

"Mr. Faul! Mr. Hartmann!" Lemu barked out upon seeing the three approach. "Why are you two causing Ms. Nishizumi trouble again?!" Lemu was not at all pleased with seeing David and Erich, two of the less responsible students he often saw, impeding the attempts of Miho, a model student to him, to be on time.

Miho had a slightly exhausted look as she stood before the Public Morals Committee, but she still had a smile on her face, as if she didn't really mind it. "Ah, don't worry about what _Bubi's_ doing right now," she said in a tone that sounded assuring. She then cast an amused glance to Erich, who was still slumped over and only barely standing up because of Miho's support. "He does stuff like this all the time." She then turned back to Lemu and continued. "I've been trying to correct that behavior of his myself, but I've had no luck so far after about a decade of trying. But I ran into David on the way here and saw him in a similar state." She then shrugged as best she could with two boys with a current preference for sleeping practically dragging her down by the shoulders. "I thought that I should at least help him out."

"Ooooooh, Lemuuuuuuu…" David sleepily called out as he yawned. He had also gotten away from Miho's left side as he walked forward sleepily with arms extended. "I'm tired, Lemu…"

"Hey!" Lemu snapped in response to David running into him with his arms out. "I already told you to stop calling me Lemu!"

"Take my arms, Lemu," David insisted still with a sleepy tone. He then looked back at Miho, who still had a sleepy Erich on her right. "Miho, grab my legs. That way you can both carry me off to the nurse's office."

"Hey, I'm not about to let you make a fool of me!" Lemu yelled at David with an aggravated tone.

"It's something that cannot be helped," David argued with Lemu. It sounded humorous given his sleepiness. "I'm too tired, so there's nothing else that'll work. Public Morals Committee, I'm counting on your help."

"That's not even _remotely_ within our jurisdiction!" Lemu argued back in a shout. He was ready to snap with David's current behavior. "Just because you have chronic fatigue doesn't excuse you from performing your duties! Your laziness is because you have a lifestyle that's very slacking! Let me tell you this! There's a limit to how many absences you can incur, and you're on track to break that record yet again! I'm not about to…!"

David stood there with a blank look mixed with his sleepiness as he endured Lemu's continuous lecturing. But to him, all he could hear was something along the lines of "Lemu, Lemu, Lemu…" with regards to Lemu's relatively animated scolding.

Miho stood off to the side supporting the still sleepy Erich as she held an awkward smile at the situation with David and Lemu.

" _Häää…?_ " Erich wondered with a sleepy tone as he also watched the scene, though only barely because of his own tiredness. "Oh, it's just this again." He then fell back asleep as he leaned against Miho's side. The light brunette girl supporting him glanced over to him in reaction to his leaning, but she soon grew a resigned smile knowing she wouldn't ever change the blond-haired German's habits.

Miho chose to walk on and drag Erich further along upon seeing David and Lemu continue on with their usual quarreling. "Morning, Sodoko," she kindly greeted Sodoko, who was still guarding the gate.

"Morning," Sodoko responded absentmindedly. But she raised her eyebrows upon spotting the two Germans' attire. "Hey, Ms. Nishizumi?" she beckoned.

Miho stopped and looked over to her with a look of curiosity. "Yes?" she asked with an appropriate curious tone.

"You can't wear that on school grounds," Sodoko informed as she pointed to the _Ritterkreuz_ on Miho's neck. "No accessories of any kind."

Miho blinked for a second before bringing her free left hand to her _Ritterkreuz._ She slowly removed her hand and simultaneously slowly grew a dark look at Sodoko. ' _Oh, she did_ _ **not**_ _just imply what I think she implied, did she?!_ ' she thought to herself with obvious tenseness in her tone.

The girl from the Public Morals Committee grew some raised eyebrows in surprise at the sudden change in Miho's face, as she had never seen such a look on her before. ' _Uh oh, this doesn't feel like it'll progress smoothly…_ ' Sodoko thought to herself, as if anticipating and bracing for what was to come.

"I apologize in advance for what I'm about to say," Miho began with a restrained voice that still gave the impression she was by and far the more dominant of the two now. "But I'm not going to stop wearing a one-of-a-kind gift from my one true love for _anyone._ It's far too special to me. I respect the uniform policy completely otherwise, but being forbidden from wearing _this,_ " She gestured with her free hand to her _Ritterkreuz._ "is a huge insult to me. I simply cannot accept that particular part of the dress code if it means I'm not allowed to wear a small gift that's dear to me."

Miho then broke away from the conversation as she started to walk away to the school proper. " _Ich wünsche Ihnen einen schönen Tag,_ " she ended in her native tongue as she dragged Erich along, though she had a certain forcefulness to her now, both in her voice and in her movements.

Sodoko stared off at her and Erich for a moment before blinking and coming back to the world. ' _I'll have to address that issue later,_ ' she thought as she turned back to continue her role of marking off everyone as present or absent on her tablet and monitoring everyone that passed her by, all the while Lemu continued lecturing David with a passion nearby.

"Well, God, if you put it like that, then it might be better if you just came over to wake me up every day," David nonchalantly remarked as he endured Lemu's scolding.

But the English Public Morals Committee member heard his remark, and he immediately stopped his scolding. He continued holding his finger up in a pointing gesture, previously from his scolding but now because he was processing exactly what David had said. He then grew an idea as he held his serious expression.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning was just coming into being as the morning sun's rays shined over the eastern horizon. Birds were chirping happily as they received the pleasant warmth of the sun for the first time in hours.

In David's house, he was lying on his back on his bed under the sheets wearing some basic sleepwear. He was awake staring up at the ceiling, but he had a certain tenseness to him from a slight fear, though.

That slight fear came from the fact that he could see that Lemu was nearby within his room, already in his usual school outfit. He was standing up with his back leaning against the wall. He had his head down as he slept in that position. Also present on the stand beside David's bed were numerous alarm clocks. All showed that it was very near to 0700.

"Lemu…" David began with a nervous sweat as he forced himself to remain calm. "… That's really you, right? You're not one of those visitor spirits I heard about, right?"

Just after that moment, all of the alarm clocks went off. Immediately, Lemu snapped awake and quickly moved to David's bed.

"Wake up!" he barked as he whiffed the sheets off of David with great force.

"Ah!" David briefly cried out in surprise as he tumbled to the floor courtesy of the sheets being forcefully pulled off of him. He started to recover his breath from getting thrown from his bed. "Jesus Christ, for some random reason I actually woke up from someone's presence!" he noted while recovering his breath as he rose to his knees. "Lemu, what the hell is this all about?!"

"It's like you suggested yesterday," Lemu responded as he looked down to him. "I came over to wake you up."

"But how did you even get in my house?" David asked as he slowly made to get up.

Lemu got a key out of his pocket and waved it once. "Mr. Silva was kind enough to lend me a spare key for this place," he informed as he put it back in his pocket.

David blinked at that answer. "Oh… Well, I know I said what I said, but…" he began.

"If that's the case, then hurry up and eat!" Lemu insisted as he turned around and walked out of the room. "Get ready and get going to school!"

David blinked again in confusion at his words as he followed Lemu in a walk. "Wait, eat?" he asked in confusion.

"Yes," Lemu confirmed with a nod as the two reached the kitchen. "Eat."

What awaited David on the table was a massive breakfast that was still steaming hot. Among the breakfast elements were pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits, and various other additives like syrup, salt, and pepper. For a drink was a large pitcher of orange juice.

David's mouth was hung open as he took in the delicious aroma of the breakfast served out.

"Oh, and sorry for just using your kitchen as if it was my own," Lemu began as he looked around nonchalantly with crossed arms. "But it's for the greater good in getting your lifestyle on the right track, so don't bother complaining about it."

"Lemu…" David interjected as he turned to face the English Public Morals Committee member.

"What?" Lemu responded with a tinge of annoyance. He didn't really want to waste time talking.

"Be my butler," David requested with his usual blank face.

Lemu widened his eyes in surprise and nearly fell over in shock from such a request. But he quickly recovered and shot back up. "Quit trying to make a fool of me and be serious for once!" he sharply retorted.

XXXXXXXXXX

For the next few days, the daily routine of David proceeded along much differently since Lemu was now directly involved in it. The first morning continued on with Lemu instructing David to eat up with a healthy breakfast, which was followed by Lemu helping David get his school uniform on, even if it was a clumsy process because of David's sleepiness. Lastly, the English Public Morals Committee member forcefully dragged along the American sleepaholic of a boy as the two made their way to the school. Although it was a strenuous task on Lemu, he was able to get the job done and get David to school on time.

The next day, the routine was largely similar. After the alarm rang at 0700 hours, Lemu forcefully dragged David out of his bed. He then brought him down to the kitchen table and made him eat a full breakfast.

The days afterward held the same routine. At the beginning of another day, Lemu was dragging along a still-sleepy David to the school, having already gotten him prepared for the day back at the house. Once again, he was giving nothing less than his best effort to make sure the American boy was on time.

Further back watching the scene was one particular group of seven that was similarly ready for the school day. The group consisted of Anton carrying a conked-out Mako on his back, Herz, Hana, Saori, and Miho, who was once again supporting a sleepy Erich with her arm across his shoulders and with his arm across hers.

"It seems that as of late, Lemu's been giving his absolute hardest," Herz observed with some admiration of said effort. "I wonder, how many days has he been dealing with David in the morning now?"

"Not a clue, but that's still quite the feat," Anton responded with a satisfied grin. "Really, he's given the Public Morals Committee a great name with his actions so far."

"That's true, but…" Saori began to contradict when she saw Lemu's physical condition, which could be summed up as absolutely beat. "… He's looking like it's taking its toll on him…"

While all that was happening, Miho was looking down deep in thought. She was particularly thinking about her interaction with Sodoko one recent morning where she had effectively told her off, and it was deeply troubling her if her face said anything about it.

' _Gah, why did I do something so stupid?!_ ' she berated herself in her mind. ' _I never should've snapped at her like that! Ach, ich bin so ein Dummkopf!_ '

"Hey, Miho?" Saori garnered Miho's attention. Miho snapped out of her train of thought to find Saori and a few others looking to her with some confusion mixed in with an ever-so-slight amount of concern. "You alright? You've been in real deep thought ever since we met up."

Miho knew exactly why she was being asked that question, and she instinctively put on as much of a reassuring smile as she could. "Don't worry, it's nothing important," she dismissed with a wave of her left hand. Her other arm was the one supporting Erich, who was still asleep without a single care in the world.

Saori stared at Miho for a bit longer before breaking away and looking forward again. "Alright, if you say so," she rescinded. She had seen something in Miho's eyes that gave at least a hint that she wasn't being entirely truthful, but Saori chose to let her be, as she couldn't tell for sure what was going on with the light brunette German girl.

Miho relaxed slightly seeing that she was no longer in the spotlight. She took another glance at Erich beside her, and she followed up with bringing her free hand to the _Ritterkreuz_ around her neck. ' _No matter what, I have to correct what I did that morning,_ ' she thought to herself with determination as she looked forwards again.

XXXXXXXXXX

After a few minutes, the group of seven reached the school's main gate just after David and an exhausted Lemu. The school day was about to begin, hence why there were many students passing through the gate. At the gate checking for the latecomers were the usual members of the Public Morals Committee that were assigned the task, which included Sodoko.

"Morning," the taskmaster of a girl said absentmindedly as she marked off student after student passing by her as present on her tablet. "Morning."

Miho subtly dropped further back from her group as they neared the gate. She dragged a still-sleepy Erich along while dropping back from the others and moving in the direction of Sodoko.

"Morning," Sodoko greeted again as the others in the group passed by her. She barely took notice of the sleeping Mako on Anton's back and reacted to it appropriately. "Ms. Reizei, wake up! Quit burdening others with your habits!" she followed up with a reprimanding tone.

"Fine, fine…" Mako responded sleepily from her spot.

"Just one fine is enough!" Sodoko barked back as she stomped a foot.

"Fiiiiine, Sodoko…" Mako dismissed in her same sleepy tone. Sodoko could not respond to her again since Mako was being carried out of reach. The rest of the group did not stop for Sodoko and continued on so as to get to their classes.

Sodoko huffed a bit in dissatisfaction. ' _I'll get her set straight one day,_ ' she determinedly thought to herself. She then turned back to continue her duties of taking attendance, but she found a slight surprise upon seeing two particular people standing just before her now. "Can I help you, Ms. Nishizumi?" she politely and professionally asked.

Indeed, Miho was now standing by Sodoko as she supported the still asleep Erich. Miho herself was looking much like she had something burdening her mind.

"Hey, Sodoko…" Miho greeted with a slightly unsure tone. "Um…" She grew a bit fidgety out of nervousness as she looked anywhere but directly at Sodoko. "I wanted to say… I mean…" She started trying to force herself to look to Sodoko and be more confident. "I just want to say I'm sorry!"

The Public Morals Committee taskmaster blinked upon seeing Miho immediately look down in shame. ' _What is she even apologizing for?_ ' she thought in some confusion. "For what?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"… I shouldn't have said what I said back a few mornings ago…" the light brunette German girl elaborated while looking down. "I didn't mean to snap that way at you, not in the least." Miho then looked at Sodoko again with a remorseful expression. "I'll take any punish-"

"Hey, hey," Sodoko cut her off as she waved a hand in interruption. Miho was a bit lost as to why she interjected, but she took the hint and grew silent. "You don't have to worry about those sorts of things." The taskmaster of a girl held a more casual stance as she continued. "Besides, now that I look back on it, I think I was overextending my enforcement of the dress code a bit with that. I know you're no troublemaker, so I can accept it if you choose to wear something so important to you as _that._ " She gave a hand gesture to Miho's _Ritterkreuz._ "Of course, provided it's of reasonable appearance."

Miho blinked in confusion at her response. "Wait, so you're _fine_ with what happened that morning?" she asked with slight disbelief.

"Yeah," Sodoko answered. She then shrugged a bit. "I've gotten used to unhappy people complaining to me, so I don't take any offense to it."

Miho remained silent as she digested the entire conversation. She then grew a bright smile upon coming to her realization that Sodoko had effectively forgiven her actions. "Thank you, Sodoko!" she enthusiastically thanked the taskmaster from the Public Morals Committee for her forgiveness.

"It's nothing," Sodoko waved off. She then glanced at Erich, who was still fast asleep and being supported by Miho. "Though, would you mind solving _that_ problem?" She nodded at Erich.

Miho looked over to Erich in response. She giggled a bit at the implication as she turned back to Sodoko. "Oh, yeah, don't worry. I'll take care of him," she confirmed with her usual happy tone.

The Public Morals Committee taskmaster simply nodded as she turned her attention back to her duties. Miho saw no further need to be around having achieved her objective, so she continued on into the school proper, still dragging Erich along, but she no longer had to drag along any feelings of guilt.

Sodoko took a second to look over to Lemu, who was back from dragging David along into the school proper. The English boy was on the ground recovering all the energy he used up dragging David along. "Note to self," Sodoko began to herself as she resumed her duties of performing attendance. "Temporarily take Lemu off the list of available members."

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning came around, and it was still the same routine for Lemu with making sure David was on time to school. He was sleeping against the wall in David's bedroom already in his usual school outfit, but most notable was the fact he appeared dead tired.

"Uh!" he woke up with a start. "Bollocks, I dozed off!" He hastily looked around the room, and he blinked in confusion upon seeing David's bed fully made. "Where did Mr. Faul go? What, did he wake up already?"

Lemu chose to leave the room and explore the house to try and find David. "I wonder if he went ahead already…" he mused as he looked in some of the other rooms for any sign of David. But he was stopped from his search when he smelled a delightful scent. "Oh? Something smells peachy…"

The English boy followed the smell until he arrived in the dining room. On the table, there was a small yet adequate breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and some milk. In front of the meal was a note.

"What is this?" Lemu wondered as he took a seat. He picked up the note and read it to himself. "'Lemu… Thanks for all you've done. So as to express my gratitude to you, I chose to make a breakfast for you. I'd greatly appreciate it if you liked it, but whether you do or not, I hope you take your time to savor the food.'"

The English Public Morals Committee member chuckled a bit. He was honestly caught off guard by the note. "By Jove, that was quite out of character for him," he remarked in a notably more relaxed manner. He then set the note back down. "But even if that was totally unexpected, I can't just let his efforts go to waste. I should eat what he made."

Lemu then dug into his breakfast, and he immediately savored the taste. "Mmm… This isn't bad at all," he judged as he ate. "So it seems that he really _can_ do some things if he actually tries. Really, that boy is something…"

He continued eating over the next few minutes until his plate was completely cleaned out. "Aah, that was one of the best breakfasts I've had in a while," he opined. "Now then…" Lemu made to get up, but he stopped with a start. "Wait, huh? Wasn't I supposed to do something else…?" He thought for a bit until it hit him like a hail of gunfire. "Oh, shite…"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Goddammit!" Lemu yelled in frustration a little later. "I forgot that there's still school!" The English boy was now running as fast as he could with his bag down the sidewalks on his way to the school. "Bollocks, to think that _I_ of all people could be late!"

Lemu continued running throughout the streets in a mad rush to get to the school on time. A few minutes later, he eventually reached the school's front gate.

"Wait, what?" the English Public Morals Committee member reacted in confusion upon seeing another person standing guard at the gate besides the other members of the committee. "Mr. Faul?"

David was at the gate with the rest of the usual committee members that stood guard at the gate. He noticed Lemu approach and turned to him, but he was now wearing a highly mischievous grin. The grin was notably dark in how it was worn, almost as if he was intending for something to happen.

"Mr. Mulberry, you're really straddling the line there between being on time and being tardy," David informed with his sly grin in a tone that sounded reprimanding in nature. "I suggest you pull yourself together and fix your lifestyle."

Lemu immediately popped a vein in his forehead as he tried to control the intense rage he was feeling towards David now. Suffice to say that he was going to have one of _those_ days thanks to the American sleeper's deliberate humiliation of him.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Anton:_ And here we have a case of paying good deeds with evil. How this concept works is when one ends up causing harm to a benefactor in their attempts to repay them a favor. This is not something that good people do, so don't any of you all ever try something like this, okay? Okay!

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	82. Kapitel 19,1,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Die Macht eines Fans**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"1611 is when Gustavus Adolphus the Great ascended to the Swedish throne, and with his ascent he inherited a couple of wars left over from his predecessors against Denmark, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Russia," Gustav began one day in class while standing behind his desk. "All of those were quickly ended, though the Polish war took longer to resolve, and then in 1630 he brought Swedish forces in to intervene in the ongoing Thirty Years' War on the anti-Imperial side. The Swedish forces under their king's command quickly turned the tide in the war by greatly strengthening the Protestants' fighting abilities and giving their campaign against the Empire a clear direction. The war itself had the initiative change hands various times after Gustavus Adolphus was killed in action in Lützen in 1632, but the Protestant side gained a great ally when France intervened on the same side as Sweden in 1636 when they declared war on the Holy Roman Empire. The Protestants gained the advantage initially, but the Empire bitterly resisted until in 1642 when Sweden regained the initiative, but by the middle of the decade everyone was getting tired of the war, and there were ongoing talks seeking to end it. The Peace of Westphalia that soon came in 1648 granted Sweden many territories as war reparations, which gave Sweden the third-largest area of control in Europe by land area. By 1658 after signing the Treaty of Roskilde with Denmark, Sweden's territory extended to its absolute height during the empire's time. The Swedish Empire extended out to about 1.1 million square kilometers, more than twice as large as the modern-day Sweden."

XXXXXXXXXX

A few minutes later, Gustav was still talking about Sweden's era of great power.

"By the late 1600s, Sweden had made many enemies on the continent from the actions of its rulers, and its own internal politicking had weakened the country to the point that the king himself had to intervene to keep order," he continued on. "In 1697 came the ascendancy of Charles XII to the throne. Then, in 1700, Denmark, Poland, and Russia all declared war together on Sweden, seeking an opportunity to end Sweden's dominion of the Baltic Sea in the wake of a young, inexperienced king ascending to power. But what followed afterwards was a complete surprise to everyone. Denmark quickly sued for peace after England and The Netherlands jointly invaded it alongside Sweden, and the Russian pillaging of the Baltic coastal towns was crushed soon after Charles sent the rest of the Swedes there, even though the Caroleans were outnumbered at least four to one by the Russians. The war against Poland was then taken care of with the dethroning of the Polish king. During that time, Russia had recovered from their previous defeat and had taken several of the towns along the Baltic coast, but they soon offered peace to avoid starting an all-out war. Charles refused the proposal, and he next moved to march directly on Moscow. The Russian scorched earth policy and the bitter winter of 1708-1709 forced him to divert to Poltava in Ukraine, where the Swedes were decisively defeated by the Russians."

XXXXXXXXXX

Even later, Gustav was still talking on about the Swedish empire with a passion.

"After his disastrous defeat in Poltava, Charles XII had fled to the Ottoman Empire," he continued on. "If only they weren't discovered in the early morning, what could've happened then…!" he clenched a fist at his words in bitterness, but he quickly calmed down and continued. "But even though things looked bleak and hopeless with almost all of Europe against the Swedes, Charles did not once consider peace, and upon returning to Sweden in 1715, he immediately resolved to try and force Denmark-Norway out of the Great Northern War. He invaded in 1716 through Basmo and besieged Fredriksten, but the Norwegians resisted bitterly and continuously harassed his supply lines. Later that year, the Swedish transport fleet was destroyed and forced the Caroleans to retreat back into Sweden. Later in 1718, Charles invaded again with a rebuilt army and besieged Fredriksten yet again that November, but Charles himself was killed when a stray bullet pierced the left of his head and exited through the right when he was inspecting the front-line preparations being made to assault the fortress. To this day, uncertainty surrounds the circumstances of his death. Afterwards followed the general retreat of the Carolean army back into Sweden proper, which included the disastrous retreat across the Tydal mountain range that froze thousands to their deaths from the extremely cold weather. By 1721, the Swedish Empire had come to an end with the signing of various treaties that forced Sweden to give up its holdings, and it ceased to be a great power."

Gustav then took a breather for a few seconds to regain his breath from his very long speech. He was wearing his usual school outfit that combined the school uniform with a Gustavian-era cuirass that held the distinct Swedish variant of the Scandinavian Cross painted across it. "And that was a brief overview of the Swedish Empire, or _stormaktstiden,_ as we like to call it," he concluded in a notably more relaxed tone. "That effectively translates to 'the era of great power.' To answer your question about which country became a great power as a result of the Thirty Years' War, it was Sweden."

"Okay, okay, I understand," the instructor relented as they spoke up again. They had, ironically, just been schooled by a student. "I won't ask any more questions relating to Sweden in your presence."

The rest of the class was stunned into silence by the sudden fifteen minute detour in instruction. They certainly knew far more about the Swedish Empire now than they ever would have wished to know, all thanks to the fact that one of their fellow students just so happened to be Swedish and loved its history so extensively.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	83. Kapitel 19,1,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Das Attribut der Brille**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Late one night in his apartment, Erich was sitting at the table crafting a little piece of Jerry-rigged engineering. What exactly he was making consisted of one of the _Scherenfernrohr_ scissor periscopes often used by German tank crews. The blond-haired German was experimenting with trying to make the scissor periscopes physically wearable like glasses. As to be expected, the table itself was littered with various materials and parts, including some not related to the creation being attempted. For example, there was a sheet of paper detailing a pattern for the _Gitterplatte_ that was applied as a reticule in the lenses. Erich had already taken the steps to remove the grid plate from both lenses, but the paper was kept out of a lack of attention paid to it as more important things continued forth.

"So," he went to himself as he worked through the process of creating one possible method of support. So far, it was a simple leather band with cushioning inside it to make it more comfortable. "Bring it around here and connect… And bring it around here and connect…" He stopped for a second to inspect his handiwork by tugging on the band with his fingers so it was under tension. He then shook his head. "No, that won't work. The support is going to need to be stronger than I thought."

He then disconnected the leather band from its connections to either side of the scissor periscopes and started unstitching it in preparation to completely remake it. But as he started undoing the stitching, he felt some arms gently wrap around his upper chest.

"What are you still doing up this late?" Miho asked from her place behind him. She was leaning against his back with her arms around his upper chest with a smile and a voice that betrayed how sleepy she was. While Erich was still in his day clothes, Miho was in some sleepwear. It was her typical blue pajama pants coupled with her desert pink tank top.

Erich briefly stopped his work to look back to her. "Ah, nothing terribly important," he answered with a calm smile.

Miho raised an eyebrow, but kept her smile. " _Wirklich?_ " she asked with some skepticism in her voice. "I don't know, all that stuff there looks to be serving some bigger purpose. So what are you _really_ up to?"

Erich turned back to his work and continued unstitching the leather band as he explained. "I had gotten curious of whether or not it was actually possible to make a _Scherenfernrohr_ that could be worn just like glasses," he explained. "I thought of it after Saori told me that she lost her glasses earlier today. You know how she needs them, right?"

"Yeah…" Miho nodded as she agreed, but with a hint of suspicion. "But why a _Scherenfernrohr?_ "

"Well, that's just what I could think of on the spot," Erich answered. He soon finished unstitching the whole band and set it down. "But it's proving to be difficult considering the bulkiness of these and the strength needed of any method of support being much higher than I thought." He emphasized each of those traits with some appropriate hand gestures.

"Ah," Miho raised her eyebrows as she understood that the blond-haired German was just going out of his way once again to help a friend out. She then grew a more relaxed look and leaned against Erich's back again, such that her head was next to Erich's. "Well, don't stay up too late, please? You know I don't like sleeping alone."

"I know," Erich replied to her with a tone of assurance as he turned his head to face hers. He let one of his hands gently brush across her cheek. "I promise I'll finish up soon." He then gave her a quick kiss on the other cheek.

Miho grew a blush at the two forms of contact along with a feeling of butterflies inside her. Even though she had gotten plenty of kisses and even more from Erich, the contact still gave her that tingly feeling of happiness every time. "Alright," she acquiesced as she pulled back from her position of leaning against his back. She then began to walk over to the apartment's sole bed. "I'll be waiting," she added with a lusty tone before she got into the bed and lied down to sleep.

Erich rolled his eyes with amusement at the huge differences in her personality that Miho had yet again demonstrated. ' _It's almost like she's a different person in every individual situation,_ ' he thought to himself as he returned his attention to the _Scherenfernrohr._ ' _But now… what to do for making supports that are sufficiently strong…_ ' He thought for some time to himself until he lit up with a possible idea. ' _Actually, I wonder if that bracket on Yukari's rangefinder can be adapted to the Scherenfernrohr… It should be plenty strong enough._ '

He immediately settled on the idea and got his phone out. He texted Yukari, 'Hey, that rangefinder of yours… Would you mind letting me use its brackets for something?'

He waited for a response to come, and in the meantime, he took a look at everything on the table, mentally confirming everything he needed was present. Most importantly, he confirmed that a small glasses case was present. It was underneath a load of other materials Erich had used to experiment with creating some sufficient adaptations for the _Scherenfernrohr_ to be worn as glasses. In the case itself was a pair of glasses with a thin red frame that wasn't present on the upper portions of the lenses, and inscribed onto the case itself was the name 'Saori,' both in the owner's native Kanji script and in a more prominent, cursive Romanized script.

' _It's not like I necessarily_ _ **lied**_ _to Miholein, though,_ ' he thought of the glasses, particularly about how he was responsible for why Saori 'lost' her glasses. He then grew a grin not unlike a child's mischievous grin. ' _Let's just hope that this works as I planned it…_ '

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Saori was walking down the street on her way to school, fittingly in her school uniform. She was sifting through her black cat bag for something, but the look on her face suggested she wasn't succeeding in finding what she wanted.

"Goddammit, did I forget my glasses?" she cursed as she rummaged even more through her bag. "Ugh, this is going to make it hell to try seeing stuff up close."

Behind her and walking towards her was one Erich-Dietrich Hartmann. "Hey, Saori," he greeted with a wave.

"Eh?" the ginger-haired girl went as she instinctively turned to face the voice. She blinked before it registered in her mind who was there judging by the distinct youthful German voice. "Oh, hey _Bubi._ "

"Hey," the blond-haired German responded as he stopped near her. He then raised an eyebrow in curiosity at her current state. "So what are you doing?"

"Ah, well I'm trying to find my glasses," Saori elaborated as she continued rummaging through her bag. "But I'm thinking that I forgot them since I can't find them in here."

"Ah," Erich raised his eyebrows in enlightenment. "Well, I think I have something that could work out for the time being until we can either find your glasses or get some new ones."

"Oh, really?!" Saori asked with a greatly enthusiastic smile and giddy attitude. "Can I use them?!"

"Whoa, calm down," Erich requested with his hands held out in a gesture to stop. "Of course you can use them. No need to be so giddy. Just do me a favor and close your eyes."

Saori raised an eyebrow in confusion, but complied and closed her eyes. "Why do I need to close my eyes?" she asked.

"Oh, just because of the huge change in focus your eyes are about to undergo," Erich provided as he dug through his own bag and brought out the _Scherenfernrohr_ he had been messing with the night before now in a complete state. Now, it had the supporting frame of Yukari's German EmR1m coincidence rangefinder Jerry-rigged to fit and support the scissor periscopes. "That should give you a clearer picture than just slipping them on. Now just hold still…"

The blond-haired German then gently mounted the modified _Scherenfernrohr_ onto Saori with the frame resting on either shoulder and eyes against the looking lenses. Erich then performed a final check that the system wouldn't fall off or otherwise do something unintended. As instructed, Saori remained still, though she did shiver a bit internally when she felt the boy's touch. She didn't find Erich's touch in particular to be the reason behind her shudder, but more because of just having _any_ boy touch her. After finishing, the blond-haired German ultra-ace stepped back. "Okay, you can open your eyes now," he granted as he stood before her.

The ginger-haired girl opened her eyes and immediately found her vision much clearer than it was before without her glasses or contacts. "Oh, wow!" she awed as she looked around. "This is _so_ much clearer! But they _do_ feel somewhat restrictive…"

"I think _all_ glasses feel that way to some extent," Erich opined as he held a grin. Another thing he was holding was his laughter with regards to how Saori looked at the moment with wearing _Scherenfernrohr._

Saori thought for a second before she shrugged. "Eh, I guess so," she agreed with Erich's opinion. She then turned and began to walk off, but she was looking back at the blond-haired German. "Well, come on! We can't be late to school!"

"Yeah, I'm coming," Erich said as he started walking the same way, all while holding back laughter at her looks. He then fell into step beside the ginger-haired girl.

"Oh, speaking of which," Saori began. "Where's Miho at? She's usually with you all the time."

Both of them then felt an arm lay itself across their shoulders, and they felt the presence of someone else between them.

"Oh, I just had to go get something," Miho informed with a sweet smile from her place between the two. She wore her school outfit like the others were.

Erich tensed, as he could tell that things were about to head south judging by the tone of voice Miho used. He recognized it as being overly sweet, like the tone she used whenever she had him trapped for something he did. ' _Ach, Scheiße,_ ' he thought to himself.

"Saori, could you take those off?" Miho asked with her usual kindness, all while she looked to Erich with a glint in her eyes saying that she knew exactly what her boyfriend was up to, and that he would pay for it. She then took her arm off of Saori to pick out something from her pocket. It was Saori's glasses case. "I found your glasses."

The ginger-haired girl was none the wiser to the smile on Miho's face that held far more meaning than it appeared at first. "Oh, you did?!" she reacted as she turned to her light brunette friend. She instinctively took off the _Scherenfernrohr_ she was wearing and held them in her right hand with her arm hung down to her side. "Where were they?!"

The glasses and their case were quickly snatched from Miho's hand as Saori quickly donned them again. Miho held a grin at the sight. "Oh, I just happened to find them back in our apartment," the light brunette German girl stated, deliberately being extra clear in her speech. She held Erich close to her with her other arm using more force than was necessary so as to get her point across to her boyfriend that he was screwed. "I found them in the _messier_ portions of the apartment."

Saori blinked at the information she just learned. After processing it and deducing what her friend meant by the words, she looked down at the _Scherenfernrohr_ in her hand. "… Wait, what's this about?" she asked as she turned her head to face Miho's face.

In response, the light brunette German girl took out her phone and turned the screen around so Saori could look at a picture. "This _child_ is a bundle of mischief," Miho responded with a calm smile mixed with a glint in her eyes that showed she was absolutely in control of the blond-haired German caught by her arm.

The picture Saori was looking at on Miho's phone was one of her wearing the _Scherenfernrohr._ The ginger-haired girl quickly grew a look of horror when she saw her appearance and stepped back in reaction. "A-Are you serious…?" she asked with a whisper. ' _No…,_ ' she thought as she looked to Erich. ' _How could he do this?! Why would he try and publicly humiliate me with some kind of prank?!_ '

Miho saw what Saori was doing and also turned her face to look to her boyfriend still trapped by her. "I'm sure you know, Saori," she began with that same powerful and controlling glint in her eyes. "That when a child does something to try and hurt someone, that they need to be _punished_ for it." She deliberately emphasized 'punished' to get her point across. Saori slowly nodded as she received the message and started to grow a more determined glare at the blond-haired German.

Erich was still trapped by Miho's arm, already well-aware that he was screwed and about to pay the price two-fold for his immaturity. He then looked to the one holding him hostage, particularly into her controlling eyes. "Please be merciful," he requested in a somewhat begging tone. "No Red Army stuff, please…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Several hours later, the history buffs that made up _Hippo_ Team were settling into their _Sturmgeschütz_ III _Ausführung_ F, in preparation for another practice to begin. All were in their usual historical outfits mixed with their school uniforms.

"Remember," Erwin began as she dropped through her commander's hatch. " _Wenn zwei sich streiten, freut sich der Dritte._ "

" _Ad victoriam ex machina,_ " Caesar similarly spoke from her loader's post to the right of the 7,5 cm StuK 40 L/43. She was putting on one of the headsets used to communicate throughout the vehicle.

Erwin was similarly putting one on. "Everyone ready?" she requested over the comms.

" _Hai!_ " Oryou confirmed from the driver's post.

" _Yoshi!_ " Saemonza similarly confirmed from the gunner's seat. She was ready to start shooting the _Sturmkanone._

" _Sic est!_ " Caesar confirmed from the loader's spot.

" _Alles-warte eine Minute..._ " Erwin began, but she backtracked herself. She noted something was missing from the roof above her, and she grew a perplexed look at it. "Has anyone seen my _Scherenfernrohr?_ "

"Huh?" the other three girls in the assault gun went in confusion as they looked to where Erwin was pointing up. Indeed, the _Sturmgeschütz's_ scissor periscope was missing from its usual spot in the roof by Erwin.

"Huh, I wonder where it could have gone..." Erwin mused as she looked at the hole in the roof where the _Scherenfernrohr_ was supposed to be mounted.

Just then, the commander's hatch opened to reveal Erich from the outside with a given up sort of look. "Here," Erich said with a resigned tone as he handed over the _Scherenfernrohr_ to Erwin. Notable about him now was that he had a sign hanging down from his neck. Written on it was, ' _Ich bin ein unreifes Kind und ich muss dafür bestraft werden._ '

Rather than install the _Scherenfernrohr_ immediately, Erwin took a moment to snort in amusement at Erich's appearance. She perfectly understood through the sign that he was being publicly humiliated. She got on the radio and remarked over the channel, "I love what you did to your _Freund,_ _fräulein Kapitän._ "

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	84. Kapitel 19,1,3

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs**_

 _ **Kapitel Drei: Achten Sie auf Erich**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Let's not worry about him for now," Miho addressed everyone in the Arts of Warfare programs one day in front of the hangar. All were in their combat outfits, but one noticeable absence was Erich. He usually stood directly next to Miho and addressed everyone alongside her, but now he wasn't even present amongst the crowd. But Miho chose to not wait up for him and just trust, or more like hope, that he would show up. "Now, let's get to practicing!" she ended with the great determination she possessed in her commander persona.

"Roger!" all of the others responded affirmative. They all then moved to get to their vehicles, whether it was a _Panzer_ or a fighter. All of them were outside in front of the hangars. The _Panzer_ crews began to enter their vehicles with the exception of Miho's crew, who had no need to rush considering the light brunette German girl that commanded them was standing around and observing for the moment. The others among the _Anglerfish_ Team were all standing around the Bf 109 K-4 that was parked out front of the hangars with the typical ground crew for it.

"So, considering _Bubi's_ not here now…" Anton began as he looked around idly. He noticed that the other ground crews were already setting up their respective aircraft while he and the rest of the crew for the 109 was standing around and doing nothing. "Does that mean we're out of work?"

"Sleep…" David went as he leaned against one of the splayed-out landing gear legs. Leaning against the other landing gear leg already asleep was Mako. They were seemingly using the reason of having to stand around as being their excuse for sleeping.

In response to Anton's inquiry, Herz shook his head. "No, I don't think so," he voiced. He then looked on at the _Panzer_ crews mounting their armored fully-tracked steeds. "Taking into consideration Miho's past suggestions that we participate in the _Panzerkraft_ practices to challenge the other teams, I can only guess that we'll be taking everyone on again with the _Acht-Acht._ "

"Ah," Anton went as he grew a look of realization. It soon transformed to a somewhat predatory look aimed at the girls of the group. "Well, it's _always_ fun destroying hordes of tanks using a lowly halftrack that can carry around Big Bertha."

"You _do_ realize that the term 'Big Bertha' actually refers to a German 420 mm siege mortar from World War One, right?" Yukari retorted with a look of disgruntlement at the common English understanding and usage of Big Bertha. "Plus, it's technically called ' _Dicke Bertha,_ ' literally thick Bertha."

Anton shrugged dismissively. "Hey, it's still a great fucking gun either way," he offered back.

"I agree," Herz nodded. "It is definitely great. But I think it may be a good idea to get the _Messer_ up and ready so Erich doesn't have to wait on us. Should we?"

Anton processed Herz's idea rather quickly and nodded resolutely.

"Definitely," Miho confirmed just as Anton nodded. Those by the 109 turned to her and found her approaching the _Messer_ with her usual graceful smile and attitude. She looked over to Anton with a look of agreement. "He definitely wouldn't want to waste time waiting around for his plane to be readied up. See to it that it's prepared, Anton."

"Yes, ma'am," the blonde American nodded in confirmation. He then addressed the other guys. "Alright, let's get moving! You all know what to do!"

"Understood!" the other three guys replied affirmative, and they set out to ready up the Bf 109 K-4.

Nathan chose to load up the guns, as he did most of the time anyway. After hopping up on the wing root to reach the cowl, he opened one of the access hatches for the two 13 mm MG 131s. But he was greeted with a startling surprise from within it.

"Ah!" he went with a start as he stumbled back on instinct. At the same time, a small dachshund, evidently a stray judging by its non-tidy appearance, quickly jumped out through the access hatch and scampered away.

"What?" Anton quickly reacted as he turned to the source of the noise. "What happened?"

"Oh, damn, that was scary, eh," Nathan said with a notably more relaxed tone as he regained his breath. "There was some kind of dog in the cowl."

"… Huh?" Anton went as he tilted his head a lot with a great look of confusion.

"Ah, well it's nothing to worry about, eh," Nathan dismissed as he jumped down from the wing root. "Those critters like getting into whatever spaces they can if they can avoid the elements that way. We just have to watch out for them."

Anton nodded, still completely lost on what just happened. "Alright, if you say so…" he granted. But he stopped as soon as he heard the distinctive sound of snoring. "… Wait, what's that?" he whispered.

The other boys and girls there looked confused, but after they strained their ears, they could all hear the snoring sounds again.

"There's nothing there, there's nothing there, there's nothing there…" Saori repeatedly told herself as she trembled in fear of the possibility of more animals within the _Messer._

Miho, however, was processing the snoring sounds as she focused on listening to them. She noted that they had a rhythm to them, and she also faintly recognized the particular sound as being familiar. "Wait a minute…" she muttered to herself as she approached the Bf 109. She climbed up to the wing root and fiddled with the canopy's handle. She then opened the canopy and swung it open to the side. As she took a look inside, the others that were there gathered to behind the plane's left wing to watch.

After taking a short look inside, Miho smacked a palm to her forehead in disbelief and annoyance. "Oh, you're kidding me…" she said with a resigned tone. "Why didn't I think to check here earlier?"

Why she said such a thing was because she found the source of the snoring sounds: one Erich-Dietrich Hartmann. The blond-haired German ultra-ace was lying asleep in a very odd position within the cockpit. He was upside down in his seat, with his head in the footwell and his feet at the headrest. He was sleeping away without a care in the world in his own combat outfit, which wasn't very different from his usual clothes. All he had to do was remove the green tie and he could fulfill the rest with his own clothes.

But even still, as Miho looked at him, she couldn't help but grow a dreamy smile as she leaned on the cockpit sill with her arms. ' _Ah, he looks so handsome when he sleeps,_ ' she thought in a similar dreamy tone. ' _He's just so… enigmatic… and I love him for it and so much more._ '

As she continued staring at the blond-haired German, the others behind her and on the ground were looking at her fall into her dreamy state.

"Yeah, she's a goner," Saori stated rather bluntly.

Anton nodded in agreement. " _Waaay_ gone," he verbally agreed.

All the others nodded in agreement. They knew Miho wouldn't snap out of her entranced state anytime soon, so they just let her be with her blonde knight.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	85. Kapitel 19,1,4

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Vier: Tee-Verkostungspartei_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile with the British folks of Saint Gloriana, they were up to things that could be considered absolutely normal for them. That is, they were having a tea-tasting party within their typical blue school uniforms. It was mainly the ladies that were serving tea as the gentlemen tasted it and took guesses as to what blend the tea was.

At the moment, it was Arthur's turn as he took a seat at a small table. He closed his eyes before he lifted up his cup of boiling hot tea from its saucer and took a leisurely sip of it. He then set it down and grew a look of thought mixed with his usual calmness. "Let's see now…" he mused as he mentally deciphered the tea's properties. "From the aroma and its flavor…" He then opened his eyes as he turned his gaze to Darjeeling, who remained as calm as she always did to not give any hints. But Arthur had a look in his eyes saying he already figured out the tea blend. "Would this blend so happen to be Darjeeling, Darjeeling?"

"I'm humored by your words," Darjeeling retorted with an amused grin. She then nodded. "But yes, you are correct with your assumption." She and the other Brits were standing around the table at a polite distance as they observed or prepared to fulfill their parts. One such person was Orange Pekoe, who currently held a serving plate with another cup of hot tea on it.

"Jolly good!" Arthur briefly pumped a fist in celebration. He then quickly reverted back to his calm, polite self as he let his eyes go closed in preparation for the next tea tasting.

Dennis took the previous tea and saucer set off the table and away. Immediately after he left the table's area, Orange Pekoe came forth with her serving plate. "Now here's the next one," she politely notified as she set the teacup and saucer down on the table.

She was about to step back so as to remain out of the way, but Arthur gently took hold of one of her hands and stopped her. He sniffed around the hand he was holding, as if trying to identify it.

"Uh… Sir Arthur?" Orange Pekoe asked with some confused timidity, as evidenced by her raising one eyebrow and growing a bit of a blush at the contact.

"From this fragrance and touch…" Arthur began as he kept his eyes closed. He then smoothly maneuvered out of his seat to stand and held the British ginger's hand while he guided his other hand to her lower back. He then opened his eyes to observe his position. "Perhaps it is the day's special of Orange Pekoe?"

While any other girl would easily be entranced by Arthur's acting, Orange Pekoe was not of the same ilk. As she stood in Arthur's embrace, she had a relatively blank look, obviously from her being so used to the blonde Englishman's unique way of interacting with her that it simply had no effect on her.

"You're finished," Assam said in a deadpan manner. "Move aside."

"Haven't you had enough yet, you damn English boy?" Douglas also deadpanned. All of the others excluding Darjeeling also knew of Arthur's habits and were similarly annoyed with him.

Darjeeling, however, just held a smile as if she was blissfully ignorant to what was going on. She was currently at one of the other nearby small tables mixing up another cup of tea.

"Alright, alright, I'll move," Arthur relented as he released Orange Pekoe and backed away from the table.

"Good, because it's my turn now," Douglas replied while he took a seat at the table, specifically the same seat. There was only one chair at the table, hence the usage of it again.

"First serving's ready!" Darjeeling notified as she walked back to the table with another teacup and saucer in hand. The tea was still freshly hot.

"Ah, my thanks," the Scotsman thanked the Englishwoman as she set the tea down. Douglas closed his eyes and then lifted the cup up to his lips and knocked it back as if it were a glass of scotch or whiskey. He finished the whole cup in a snap, and he set the cup down and grew a calm look of thought as he observed the taste of the tea. "Hmm… The taste is very rich and quite mellow…" he mused. He soon widened his eyes and started again with a louder voice. "Oi, wait a focken' minute! Is this green tea, of all damned things?! There's no way that this be black tea unless it were brewed by a Beelzebub!"

"Oh, what a wonderful display of Scottish unrest! Brilliant!" Darjeeling applauded the scene of Douglas' Scottish rage coming out. She was the only one who actually enjoyed the display. The others were holding blank looks at the sight of Darjeeling being Darjeeling. There was no doubt in their minds that she intended something like this to take place solely to piss off the Scotsman and hear the funny-to-her sound of him being angry.

Dennis was forcing himself to remain calm after hearing Darjeeling's words. Why he was doing that was because of both his and Douglas' natural tendency as people from Northern Ireland and Scotland to hate England, and Darjeeling just added another reason on the long list of reasons for why the Northern Irishman and Scotsman hate their English comrades so much. ' _Douglas already snapped, but that doesn't mean I have to give in yet,_ ' Dennis thought. ' _I'll join him when it's time to destroy the bloody English._ '

In other words, it was just a normal day for the British aboard the _HMS Ark Royal._

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	86. Kapitel 19,1,5

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Fünf: Unmögliche Herausforderung_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was yet another sunny morning aboard the _Zuikaku,_ and with the new day came another day of business for the McBraun Clothes Repair shop.

"Okay, so what kind of look are you looking for?" Nathan's mother politely asked to her current client. She was already at her workbench and attentively paying her attention to her client. She had on some relatively casual clothing that was still fit for working, such as some black pants and a white collared shirt that had buttons only at the uppermost parts.

Her client was the Swedish history buff known by the soul name of Gustav. Standing before her in his typical Ooarai school outfit and his Gustavian-era cuirass, specially tailored for his personal tastes and decorated with the blue and yellow Scandinavian cross that completely covered the entire garment, he simply passed a small portrait to Nathan's mother.

The clothing repair specialist took the portrait and inspected it, deducing that it must have what he wanted on it. The portrait was one of the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus the Great. The 17th century outfit for the great Swedish ruler was easily befitting such a high status, with the trousers and shirt being almost entirely made of silk, but not the boots and vest. The trousers and the shirt were each a golden yellow in color, and the leather boots were in a similar color to match. The boots had some white flaps draping around the opening for the foot to enter. The shirt was complimented by a dark blue vest with similar white flaps around the wrists and neck collar to go with the boots. There were a decent number of jewels that adorned the vest's upper chest areas, though it was far from excessive, and it gave the outfit an overall look of having great power, but without implying any sort of tyrannical arrogance.

Nathan's mother stared at it for a little bit longer before looking up to Gustav. The Swedish history buff had a confident grin that easily displayed power.

"This is a bit much, don't you think?" the clothing repair specialist asked with a bit of an awkward smile.

In response, Gustav slowly shook his head no, all while keeping his confident grin as if he was absolutely sure of his request.

"Oh, boy, this'll take forever…" Nathan's mother quietly said to herself as she turned to get ready to fulfill Gustav's request. No doubt, the job ahead for her would be a long one if it was to be done to absolute perfection. She felt that Gustav, like a true king, would accept nothing less than perfection in his clothing.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in the shop, Nathan's father was talking with a client of his own at his own workbench.

"Alright, so what kind of outfit are you going for, eh?" he asked casually. He was wearing a similar outfit as his wife was. That is, he wore some black trousers and a white collared shirt with buttons at the chest going up to the neck.

His client handed over a picture of exactly what they wanted, and the shop owner took it and gave it a look. The photo was of a woman wearing an outfit consisting of a white open-collar, low-cut blouse with short puff-type sleeves covered by a dark red, almost burgundy, bodice, plus a full skirt in a matching dark red color complimented by a white apron, both lower garments being short enough in length to end a bit above the mid-thigh. Overall, the outfit could be described as one of the traditional _Dirndl_ dresses worn in Bavaria and Austria, but this particular variant was a _De-Cocratisiert,_ or open-collar, type, and the shorter length of the _Dirndlkleid,_ or maid girl's dress, compared to the norm gave a more sexual impression to the outfit's wearer.

Nathan's father stared at the photo for some time in growing reluctance to fulfill the request before finally turning his head up to face his client: Anzu Kadotani, the most powerful student in Ooarai High School. The diminutive twin-tailed girl was standing before the shop owner in her Ooarai school uniform with a highly confident grin that showed some teeth as she held her hands to her hips.

Nathan's father swallowed some of his reluctance before speaking. "Is that in compliance with your school's rules?" he asked in a tone that betrayed his reluctance.

"It is now," Anzu confidently stated as she held her grin with her chin held up a bit. Her chin had to be held up so she could actually make eye contact with the shop owner thanks to her relatively short height. Predictably, she had earlier persuaded the Public Morals Committee to look the other way if they ever saw her in the outfit she was presently asking for. Without using her power to make them fall in line, she knew they would crack down on her for having an outfit that was overly erotic in appearance.

"Ugh…" Nathan's father groaned a bit at her confirmation. He then turned to his workbench to begin with the impossible challenge handed to him. "Alright, I'll get it done."

XXXXXXXXXX

Several hours later when evening had come, Gustav stepped out of the McBraun Clothes Repair shop in his new outfit for royalty. He looked like a prime example for a ruler of the Swedish Empire.

He inhaled deeply and let out the breath as he relished the evening air. "Ah, soon the party will begin," he thought aloud with a grin of satisfaction. "Just wait until the others see what I brought along. They'll be bowing before me when they get a look at _this._ " He ended by flaunting his arms out and inspecting his own outfit with pride. He had gotten the kingly outfit for a party that the school had chosen to throw, for whatever reason. He went so big with the outfit so as to show up all of his fellow history buffs, since he knew they would also bring out their best historical outfits for the occasion.

The Swedish history buff soon ended his self-inspection and spun his body to face a particular direction with his fist brought up to his chest. "Now, it is time for the lion to go to war again," he stated before he walked off on his way to get to the party. His walking was quite haughty in its style, with his arms and legs settling into confident strides and steps that demonstrated no fear from him.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few minutes later, Anzu stepped outside of the shop into the evening that was now graced by the sunset. She was in the _Dirndl_ she had specifically requested, and it fit her like a glove. She had accounted for her own diminutive size and got the _Dirndl_ she wanted to be sized to her smaller dimensions.

"Aaaaah, _sackl Zement,_ " the twin-tailed girl breathed out in a dreamy sigh as she walked away from the shop, light on her footsteps. She was in such a trance from how she felt in the dress and about what she had planned to do with it that she briefly slipped into some of the _Bairisch_ she had learned courtesy of Aprikose Novat. "Gosh, this dress is so nice…"

She soon reacquired her focus on getting to the party and continued to walk away, still light on her footsteps and thinking over what she wanted to do with her new outfit. Why she got a Dirndl as her outfit to the party was because of her full embracement of the Bavarian origins for the boys of the student council, hence her sometimes speaking _Bairisch_ alongside the standard _Hochdeutsch_ that every other German aboard the _Zuikaku_ spoke except for the three Bavarians, who, like Anzu also did nowadays, switched from Bavarian to the standard High German and back. Why she specifically requested a more sexually attractive variant of the dress was because of her more hidden desire to grab the attention of her direct counterpart and close friend Aprikose Novat. She wanted him to get attracted to her, and she chose to make a huge effort towards that goal with her _Dirndl._

Just thinking about the idea of seducing him made her sigh in delight and her cheeks heat up into a blush. She soon grew her signature confident and predatory grin, but her face still had her lusty redness on it. "Aprikose Novat, you will be _mine,_ " she said to herself with the determination that only pure wanting could bring. She then softened her smile once more into one of desire and held a hand to her heart. " _I mog di…_ " she whispered into the air her confession of being entranced with her fun-loving Bavarian friend. She admitted to her little secret in his own dialect, no less, further cementing her love for him and everything about him.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	87. Kapitel 19,1,6

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Sechs: Es ist zäh!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was getting later in the evening aboard the _Zuikaku._ The moon was already coming up from the east just as the sun went down in the west. Night had come, and it was only going to get darker.

Within the apartment of Ooarai's two Arts of Warfare commanders, the two Germans were winding down. Currently, both were in the shower together washing away the day's grime that had accumulated on them both.

While scrubbing herself, Miho noticed how most of the water dripping down Erich's body had a noticeably darker tinge to it, and she grew a relatively curious look about it. ' _I wonder what he was doing that got him **that** dirty…_ ' she thought to herself.

Erich could feel the light brunette's questioning gaze looking up and down his body. ' _Huh… I wonder what she has **that** look for…_ ' he wondered in his mind. "What is it?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as he momentarily halted his cleaning of self.

The light brunette girl blinked quickly and snapped out of her previous state of looking the blond-haired boy up and down. "Huh?" she asked in reaction as she looked to his face.

"What's got your eye?" Erich asked Miho. He then grew a slight teasing smirk. "You see something you like?"

Miho grew a blush on her cheeks at the implication, which was noticeable even while under the hot water of the shower. "No, no, not that," she shook her head with a bashful smile. She then took a breath to calm herself. "No. I was wondering why you've got so much black stuff running off your body." The light brunette girl also took notice of Erich's hair, particularly the locks just in front of the ear. They didn't extend very far at all, but she noticed that they were tainted black at the tips, and they correspondingly stood out greatly against his natural blonde hair. "And why is this part of your hair black?" Miho emphasized by trailing a hand along the left of Erich's head, along the lock of hair she had noted prior.

Erich looked a bit lost before he chose to find out for himself what the girl ahead of him was talking about. He put his hand atop the hand Miho was using to trail over his hair.

"Right here," the light brunette girl pointed out as she brought his hand with her own to the tip of the lock of hair just ahead of his left ear. "It's on both sides."

Erich took a feel of the hair he was guided to and found it to be much slicker than his hair normally was. He then lit up as he remembered what had caused that. "Ooooh, _that,_ " he recalled. He brought his hand down to his side and continued. "That came from when the engine in my 109 chose to let loose for no apparent reason." He shrugged. "Those things don't really have the most consistent record of reliability to them. Sometimes they work flawlessly, sometimes they blow up with no provocation."

"Ah, so _that_ was what was making that godawful noise during practice then…" Miho determined from her own recollection of what happened. She then moved behind the blond-haired boy and started trying to clean up the offending hair locks. "Well… did it completely grenade itself or can some parts of it be salvaged?"

Erich held a thoughtful look as Miho tried to scrub his blackened hair tips. After a few seconds, he spoke up, "From what I could see of it and from experience, I don't hold high hopes for saving it. But Anton, Herz, Nathan, and David think they can find out what happened and what can be done, so I would expect Anton to give me the final verdict perhaps tomorrow."

"Uuuuuuugh…" Miho groaned for a bit at the undesirable thought of possibly having to ask Anzu to purchase an entire DB 605DC engine. It certainly wouldn't be had for cheap; aircraft piston engines were always quite expensive, easily the most expensive individual module of any aircraft excluding the airframe itself. They could at times eat up to about a third of the entire cost for a single-engine fighter aircraft. "Well, if push comes to shove and we _have_ to buy an entirely new engine, do you think you can beg your brother to send one over at a reduced price?"

"Well…" Erich voiced his thoughts. Miho was still scrubbing his hair, but she grew a slight look of frustration when the hair tips refused to be cleaned of their black grime. "… Yeah, I guess we _could_ ask Schwarzwaldspitze for one, considering we already get at least half of our war materiel from them." He then grew an amused look as he continued on in a tone of mock anger. "But I'm _certainly_ not going to get on my knees and beg for an engine from my own brother. I'm not going to pay for that thing with my own pride."

Miho snorted and started giggling uncontrollably at the blond-haired ace's words. She leaned against his back with her arms wrapped around him to steady herself and not fall over from her laughter. "Nooooo, I would _never_ make you do something like that!" she got out as she started to calm down. She took one look at his still-blackened hair tips and mentally huffed in frustration. ' _Forget it, those aren't coming clean anytime soon,_ ' she thought and chose to give up on cleaning them. They were simply too tough and resistant to her.

Afterwards, silence reigned in the shower stall, with only the sounds of water droplets impacting solid matter present. It was a calm and comforting silence for the two Germans to embrace. That is, until it registered in Miho's mind that they were both still as naked as they were at birth, and she chose to take advantage of the situation and start gently running her hands along Erich's body. She followed up with wrapping her arms around his chest, pressing her body against his back, and leaving kisses along his neck and collarbones.

"Mmm…" Erich moaned in delight at her touch as he closed his eyes and let his girlfriend have her way with him.

A bit later, the light brunette girl chose to move to be in front of the blond-haired boy, and she continued her assault of kisses on his body, moving from the lips to the cheek, and continuing on to the chest. She then came back up to his face, but moved her hands to trail down his sides. "How about you take me right here, right now?" she posed with a dangerously lusty tone as she rested her forehead against his.

"You just couldn't wait a few more minutes, could you?" Erich returned as he brought his own hands to her hips. He had a similar look of lust on his face as Miho did. "If this was a year ago, I would've questioned if you were the real Miho. And a year ago, I would've never believed you could be so up-front."

" _Klappe zu und küss mich,_ " Miho breathed out as she ran her hands through his hair.

The blond-haired ace heeded her demand, and he shut up and started kissing her as asked. It quickly grew very passionate as they fought for domination over the other, and they started feeling each other with their hands roaming over the other's body.

They both ended up taking a _much_ longer shower than was normal for them, but it was not longer for the sake of cleaning each other. In fact, it was quite the opposite; after Miho's initiation, both fell into doing quite dirty acts with each other, as their various moans and screams of pleasure demonstrated. They had no sense of anything besides each other as they made the shower stall their own personal playground for the moment.

Of course, such filthiness would be a sin to uncover and expose to the world, but it's not like people were oblivious to these acts, either. Anyone who could hear them and had the necessary knowledge of that particular topic could easily deduce the most likely act they were doing. Any specific details of their doings, though, were left to the imagination.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	88. Kapitel 19,1,7

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Sieben: Körper Körperbau_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Christoph Weidenfeller was making his way to Ooarai High School's gymnasium with a determined stride. He walked through several halls in his school uniform with his sole focus being to get to the gym.

"There's no way that we're the same age," he muttered to himself with a bit of frustrated wonder. "No way, not when they're so much taller than me. I need to find out the truth."

Soon he arrived at the gym. He entered the large room and found it to be just as he expected it to be at this time of day: all of the badminton guys were in the middle of some vigorous training. Their usual outfits, that being their uniforms for the sport or generic gym clothes in the case of their leader, were dripping in sweat as they each pressed on in their training. Right now, they were doing some acrobatics training.

"104… 105… 106…" Ron counted off for them as they all performed jumping jacks.

Christoph was observing from further out, and he found it difficult to believe that they had already surpassed 100 jumping jacks and showing no signs of slowing down. He twitched his nose in frustration at their seemingly unnatural abilities and made to approach the four.

"123… 124… 125." Ron counted off. All of them then stopped after performing the 125th jumping jack and started recovering their breaths. All had their hands on their knees and were hunched over. "Alright… that was a great training, wasn't it?" Ron panted out.

"Oh, yeah…" Seth agreed.

"Always…" Harry pitched in.

"That's the usual outcome…" Alex said as he stood up fully, having already recovered enough of his breath.

"Hey! You all!" the four badminton guys all heard from nearby.

"Huh?" Alex said in reaction. All four of the guys had turned their heads in the direction of the voice. There they found Christoph approach them with a look of highly determined curiosity. "Oh, it's you."

"How is it you can do 125 of those jumping jacks without getting tired?!" Christoph asked with a passion. "There's no way that should be possible!"

"Well, actually we _were_ worn out from them," Ron interjected with a raised finger.

"Yeah, but that's more because the jumping jacks were a cooldown exercise for us," Harry notified as he stood up fully.

"Before those, we had already run up and down the ship's length twice and run up the stairs from the bottom deck to the top three times," Alex elaborated. He then held his hands out to the side a bit in a relaxed manner. "And that's not even counting the twenty-five laps around the hangars we used as a warm-up, or our exercises with flexibility."

Christoph remained silent as he looked at all four of the badminton guys with a huge look of disbelief and skepticism. He soon snapped out of it and addressed Alex, "Are we the same age?!" He had to look up a good bit to actually make eye contact, as the badminton guys were all quite tall by comparison, excluding their captain.

"I believe so," Alex responded as he tilted his head left and right in thought. "You're about 14 or 15?"

"Just how have you gotten so tall?!" Christoph practically demanded an answer. "Was it because of what you eat?! Or your training?! Just how?! I have to know!"

"Oooooh-kaaaaaay…" Alex awkwardly responded.

"I always thought it was because we eat a lot of meat," Harry voiced his opinion.

"Ah, that makes sense," Seth nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, stuff like beef, pork, chicken, fish, hell, even frog," Alex detailed as he looked up in thought.

"It's all about eating right, and after that it's all about using that food as your GUTS!" Ron added on with his usual flare.

"It's all about meat…" Christoph realized.

He started picturing in his mind the badminton guys all eating meat. The mental image was of all four of them around a fire with a slaughtered wild pig hung over it. It was already cooked well-done, as parts of said pig were already cut out from it. Among them included the ribs, which Alex and Harry were both eating up and devouring like they were nothing. Elsewhere, Ron and Seth were each wielding a spear and an axe as they fought some more animals, one of which was a tiger. The two badminton boys now hunters had a carnivorous gleam in their eyes, filled with the hopes of getting that tiger. They knew that they would be set for winter if they could kill it along with the other animals there.

"It's just as I expected for an American appetite!" Christoph proclaimed as he came back to the world.

The badminton guys all looked to each other with questioning gazes. They saw Christoph space out for a bit, and they had presumed he was simply digesting the information he was given, but the four Americans were now second-guessing themselves after hearing his proclamation. Finally, Ron turned to Christoph and said, "You just imagined something really weird, didn't you?"

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	89. Kapitel 19,1,8

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Acht: Ihr Parameter?_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Another day was already at its beginning aboard the _Zuikaku,_ and the new day meant another day of school for all the students aboard.

Walking down one street in both of their usual school attires were Miho Nishizumi and Erich-Dietrich Hartmann. Miho had in both hands a small pocket-sized notebook and a pencil, though she was waiting for Erich to finish up his own business so she could write something down with it. Said business of the blond-haired German had him speaking over his phone right now. He had it against his ear with one hand.

" _Ja,_ " he confirmed with a nod over the line. " _Es ist total kaputt._ " He was speaking about his Bf 109 K-4's DB 605DC engine that had recently blown itself up on him for no apparent reason.

" _Wie?_ " the other person over the line wondered how such a thing happened. Erich was speaking with none other than his older brother Alfred-Joachim Hartmann, or the Black Devil, as his foes chose to call him.

Erich gave off an annoyed sigh and ran his other hand through his short blonde hair. " _Ich habe keine Idee,_ " he answered. " _Ich denke, dass Murphy nur einige Belustigung wollte._ " He had no idea how the engine tore itself up, even after getting the report on it from his ground crew. The cause of the engine grenading itself he now simply chalked up to Murphy's Law. In other words, anything that _can_ go wrong, _will_ go wrong.

Alfred snorted in amusement over the line. " _Ach, ist das nicht die Wahrheit…_ " he agreed. " _Aber es ist ein Totalverlust, richtig?_ " He knew full well from his own experience with the DB 605 that it was a 'sick' engine, so to speak, and to remain on his toes with it. He asked Erich whether or not his own destroyed engine was a complete goner.

" _Ich dachte, dass meine Bilder haben für sich selbst gesprochen…_ " Erich deadpanned. He had such an expression because he had thought the photos of the destroyed engine he sent spoke for themselves.

" _Also gut,_ " Alfred relented, having gotten what his younger brother was saying. " _Ich werde sehen, was ich tun kann._ " He let Erich know that he would see what kind of magic he could make to satisfy the blond-haired German's request.

" _Okay, danke,_ " Erich replied back, giving his thanks. " _Wir sprechen später._ " Hearing that his brother was working on something, the blond-haired boy chose to bring the conversation to an end via a wish to talk again later.

" _Ja, ja, bis nächstes Mal,_ " Alfred similarly gave a farewell, and then the line went dead.

"So, what did he say?" Miho asked Erich after he put his phone up. She could understand what _he_ was saying, as her mother tongue was German just like his, but she wasn't able to hear what Alfred had said on his end, hence her question.

"He said that he'll see what he can do," the blond-haired boy provided. He then shrugged. "Nothing set in stone, though."

Miho sighed a bit tensely and pocketed her little notebook and pencil. "I was hoping to get something more than just that…" she bemoaned, obviously displeased with having to wait to settle the matter. She perked up a bit, though, when she spotted Saori up ahead, and she chose to wave and get her attention. "Hey, _Saorichen!_ " The light brunette grabbed Erich by the arm and started practically dragging the blonde along with her as she ran to meet up with her friend.

The ginger-haired girl turned around somewhat lethargically at the callout. "Oh," she blinked when the two Germans stopped a bit in front of her. She then gave a halfhearted wave. "Hey, Miho, _Bubi._ "

" _Morgen,_ " Erich greeted while wringing his arm out, trying to get blood flowing to it again after being freed from Miho's iron grip. While he did that, Miho took a bit of a closer look at Saori.

"What's up, Saori?" the light brunette asked with her head cocked to the side in confusion. "You're usually so lively, even in the morning."

"Oh, it's nothing really," Saori waved off. She then rubbed her hand along her white shirt of her school uniform, by the stomach. "I just ate a bit too much last night, I think. I can get that slimmed out, though."

"Ah, well just don't overdo it," Miho said with an understanding smile, wishing for her to stay safe with whatever she planned to do.

Erich, however, was staring at a little detail of Saori's that had caught his eye and stood out to him as being odd. "… _Hä?_ " he went to himself with a raised eyebrow. ' _Is it just me, or are her eyebrows thicker than I last remember?_ ' he wondered within his mind.

XXXXXXXXXX

Night came after a long day of education, and everyone aboard the _Zuikaku_ simply wanted to sleep through it. There was nothing to be done that could overrule their tiredness. So sleep everyone did.

This was no less true within the apartment of Miho and Erich. Both were in bed and asleep, with the light brunette girl lying peacefully atop the blonde with her hands resting on his chest. She was the epitome of bliss.

" _Ad victoriam!_ "

Until an onslaught of Swedish power metal snapped her awake and into a daze. Below her, Erich didn't even flinch as he stayed fast asleep. Miho rolled off of him to the side and immediately focused on finding the source of the always-loud heavy metal, and because of a light resembling that of a screen's light coming from the nightstand nearby, she deduced the cause of the song _Wehrmacht_ playing was a phone ringing.

" _Ex machina!_ "

" _Gott,_ who the devil calls at _this_ time of night?" she quietly wondered with a tired crankiness as she made to fumble around the nightstand beside the bed for the offending phone.

" _Non sibi sed!  
_ _Patriae!_ "

She eventually got ahold of the ringing cell phone, which by feel she could tell was her boyfriend's phone.

" _Ad victoriam!  
_ _Ex machina!_ "

She raised a hand to cover her eyes before slowly removing it and squinting to adjust to the brightness of the screen, but she was soon able to make out the time, 02:03, and the caller name, Alfred.

" _Non sibi sed!_ "

"Ugh, speak of the devil and he shall appear…" Miho muttered with an eye-roll of exasperation at the one renowned as the Black Devil calling.

" _Patriae!_ "

She then answered the call and brought the phone to her ear. " _Alfi, warum rufst du um zwei Uhr?!_ " she hissed over the line after picking up. She was pissed at being woken up at 0200 hours, and in a rather rude way, too, hence her furious questioning of the Black Devil as to why he was calling at such a time.

The other end was silent for a few seconds before Alfred spoke up, "… _Du bist keine Kleidung tragen, bist du nicht?_ "

Miho immediately blushed red of embarrassment at the rather blunt deduction of his, that she indeed _wasn't_ wearing any clothes. She almost never did nowadays when sleeping, for obvious reasons. " _Ach, schalte es!_ " she told him to shut it in the same whisper-yell as she instinctively sunk her body below the covers, as if trying to salvage her pride. She left only her head and a single arm above so she could continue talking over the phone. " _Antworte einfach auf meine frage!_ " She simply wanted to know why in all that is holy the Black Devil was calling at this hour.

" _Au ja, ich entschuldige mich, dich aufzuwecken, aber ich wollte die Preise für den Motor mit Erich, den sie wollen, besprechen,_ " Alfred answered. He had apologized for waking her up at such an hour, and then provided the answer she was looking for: he wanted to discuss prices for that DB 605DC engine that Ooarai needed for its star fighter, the Bf 109 K-4.

Miho's eyes lit up at those words and she grew a look of interest, albeit her tiredness was still plenty obvious. " _Das ist großartig, aber…_ " she trailed off for a bit. "… _Könntest du bitte etwa fünf oder sechs Stunden warten? Ich werde dann fertig sein._ " She found such news to be great, but just didn't have enough energy at the current time to continue any further with discussions, so she wanted to reschedule the talks for later when she was fully awake.

" _Ich kann das machen,_ " Alfred replied affirmative, that he could talk later. " _Also, ich nehme an, du wirdst…_ " He left a question hanging in the air about whether she would be the one to talk with him rather than his original intention of speaking with his younger brother.

" _Hee-hee! H_ _ast du wirklich gedacht, dass er aufwachen würde?_ " the light brunette asked with an amused giggle. She had asked Alfred if he seriously thought Erich would even stir in the middle of the night upon being called, to which both sides knew from experience was a definitive no. " _Ruf mich auf meinem Handy dann._ " She confirmed the assumption that she would do the negotiating rather than her boyfriend, considering she was far more fit for this kind of work than he was, and for the Black Devil to call her at the time she asked.

" _Alles klar dann,_ " Alfred accepted. " _Gute Nacht, Miholein._ " He confirmed Miho's request and bid her good night using her decade-old nickname.

" _Tschü-tschü, Alfi,_ " the light brunette girl reciprocated the farewell with her own little nickname for the Black Devil, and then the line went dead.

Miho put the phone back on the nightstand before resettling into her former spot of lying atop her blonde knight, who never stirred throughout the entire ordeal. ' _I swear, he could sleep through a barrage of Katyusha rockets,_ ' she thought while staring at his face for a bit with a somewhat entranced grin on her own face. She then let her head rest on his chest and fell asleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning was another morning spent getting ready for a school day. For both of Ooarai's Arts of Warfare commanders, that meant they were walking along together to the school itself, once more in their school attires.

" _Ja, aber weitergehen_ _, habst du einen Preis für uns?_ " Miho asked. She was currently on other business while Erich guided her around and made sure she didn't run into anything, considering her total focus at the moment was not with walking to school. Instead, she was talking with the Black Devil again about the DB 605 engine. The light brunette had a small one-ear headset, much like a Bluetooth headset, in her left ear while she had her pocket notebook out with a pencil.

" _Es ist rund 25.000 Reichsmark, zuletzt habe ich überprüft,_ " Alfred responded over the line with a rough historical price estimate for a DB 605: about 25,000 Reichsmarks, last he checked.

" _Fünfundzwanzigtausend… So in Euro…?_ " Miho let her question hang in the air. She chose to write down the historical price in her pocket notebook for later reference if needed.

" _In Euro, das wäre etwa 115.500,_ " Alfred provided a quick estimate of what that price would be in the modern euro currency.

" _Hundertfünfzehntausendfünfhundert…_ " the light brunette wrote down in her pocket notebook while thinking over the price. It sounded like a real chunk of change, but she had gone into the talks already expecting such things; aircraft piston engines weren't cheap in the slightest.

" _Jetzt normalerwiese, wenn sie es von uns gekauft haben, würden sie einen Zuschlag zahlen,_ " the Black Devil continued. He stated that under normal conditions they would be paying a markup.

" _Aber…?_ " Miho implied with a raised eyebrow that a 'but' was present and imminent. At the same time, Erich quickly pulled her by the waist and the hook of her arm, such that he ended up pulling her out of her current heading that led directly into a pole. Normally, she would've flushed red of embarrassment from that, but now she was on a mission and wasn't in the sense of mind to fret over such things.

" _Da es du, die fragt, werde ich den Zuschlag fallen,_ " Alfred elaborated that he would drop the markup since she was a friend.

" _Das heißt also, dass wir 115.500 Euro bezahlen?_ " the light brunette asked if that meant they would pay the base price of 115,500 euros.

" _Das ist richtig,_ " the black-haired German ultra-ace confirmed. " _Weitere Fragen?_ " He asked if she had any further questions for him.

Miho shook her head. " _Nö, aber ich muss mit meiner Schule die Verwaltung über diese erste sprechen. Das ist in Ordnung mit dir?_ " she added. She wanted him to know that she would have to speak with the student council about this little deal before agreeing to it, and asked if he was okay with that.

At the same time, Erich got bored and started looking around the area for anything to entertain him. But he soon forgot about self-entertainment when he saw Saori up ahead by the store the group usually met up at, and he could see that she looked quite exhausted at the moment. He raised an eyebrow at it, both in curiosity and in some concern. He chose to walk on ahead the short distance, trusting that Miho wouldn't get into too much trouble without the physical guidance he had been giving thus far.

" _Ja, ja, das ist okay für mich. So, bis bald?_ " Alfred continued speaking with Miho in the meanwhile. He said he was okay with those arrangements before offering a farewell.

" _Mhm. Bis bald,_ " Miho reciprocated the farewell, and she hung up with a tap to her one-ear headset. She turned to look to her side, where she last saw Erich, but that spot was now empty space, and it stopped her for a second. She soon spotted him further ahead and rushed over.

"Hey, are you alright, Saori?" the blond-haired German asked. He took note of Saori's exhausted look and her inability to stand still because of her wobbling.

"Yeah, just fiiiiiiine…" the ginger-haired girl assured, but it really didn't sound so assuring with the amount of tiredness in her voice.

"Are you alright, _Saorichen?_ " Miho asked her. She had quickly assessed the situation while approaching and, naturally, grew concerned for her friend's well-being.

"Yeah, I've just been feeling a little tired lately…" Saori answered with a halfhearted wave. "But on the bright side, I think I've slimmed a bit!"

Erich raised his eyebrow again, this time in utter confusion. He quickly looked over her up and down, trying to see if she really _did_ slim as she said. But he found nothing out of the ordinary until reaching her eyebrows. He blinked upon seeing them. He then leaned over closer to Miho. "Am I seeing things or did her eyebrows get thinner?" he whispered while keeping a baffled look aimed at the ginger-haired girl.

The light brunette looked to Saori's eyebrows to try and see for herself what Erich was talking about. "… _Hä?_ " was all Miho could say as she struck a dumbfounded look. She _had_ seen what Erich had seen, and it confused her just as it did him.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_ Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **A** **ctas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Saba** **ton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	90. Kapitel 19,1,9

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Neun: Ein irrtümliches Aufbieten_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _Oh-OH-oh!  
Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OOOH-OH-oh!_

 _Oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OOOH-OH-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!_

Yet another day was in full swing aboard the _Zuikaku,_ particularly over by the hangars, where it smelled of oil and gas no matter where one was. It was also possible to hear some Swedish power metal being blasted around the hangar via the speaker system usually used to broadcast school announcements. Such music had become rather liked by the Ooarai _Jägermeistern Staffel._

 _Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OOOH-OH-oh!_

 _Oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OH-OH-oh-oh-oh-oh-oooooh!_

"Okay, on three," Anton Silva cued. He and the rest of the _Messer-Ein_ ground crew were working on the Bf 109 K-4 that was temporarily grounded for the moment, because a new DB 605DC engine had finally come in after some backstage negotiations between Ooarai and Schwarzwaldspitze. By 'backstage,' it was really just Miho and Erich trying to get a needed favor from their older siblings. The engine itself was mounted into its place already, and the group had begun reinstalling all the other parts that had to be taken out to install the engine, like the whole armament suite, the electricals, the propeller unit, and many other things, let alone the covers.

 _The wise woman said,  
'Once you're hardened in battle  
There's no coming back.'_

Anton himself was getting some help from a couple of willing freshmen girls to hoist the MK 108 laying on the ground up and back into its mounting position just behind the engine, with the barrel meant to be in between the engine's cylinder banks.

 _(Fight or fall)_

"One, two, three!" he cued.

 _And before the attack  
Feel your blood start to boil in your veins as you charge_

On three, Anton and the other girls that chose to help heaved up the 30 mm autocannon to its intended mounting point, which was partly below the cockpit, and they held it there. "Get it snugged in there, Herz," the blonde American ordered. "We'll hold it up!"

 _(Hundreds fallen)_

Herz Benz, who was nearby, quickly obliged and ran down the bolts into their holes to mount the autocannon. He then got out a wrench and snugged them down until the gun's breech was rigidly mounted. He managed to create just enough space for himself, managing to work around those supporting the gun.

 _As the fire inside  
Is ignited by bloodshed  
In berserkers from North_

"Alright, you can let go, girls," the blonde American relieved his helpers as they all backed away and let Herz and Nathan McBraun take over with mounting the gun tube back into its place, which led from the MK 108's barrel all the way to the edge of the propeller spinner. The girls that had asked to help, the more energetic Karina and Aya, were taking a moment to recover their breath. While the MK 108 wasn't very heavy compared to other weapons of similar caliber, it was still far from lightweight as far as a freshman girl was concerned.

Watching from elsewhere and overseeing the process of everything were a number of people, and everyone present, including the _Messer-Ein_ ground crew, was wearing their normal school outfits. There was Erich-Dietrich Hartmann, who despite wishing to fly once more, didn't appear to be in any rush if his current state of sleeping in a lawn chair was anything to go by. There was Miho Nishizumi, who was standing behind the blond-haired German boy with her hands on his shoulders and more attentively watching everything go on in the hangars. She was more attentive simply because she knew that the blonde knight she was resting her hands on was a natural with slacking off, at least in everyday life, and as such, couldn't be relied on to uphold that responsibility himself.

 _Could it be as was said  
When the serpent be woken  
Fenrir howls_

The light brunette _Panzer_ ace watched on before turning her head to her right, as if preparing to address someone else beside her. "Hey, Azusa?" she began with her soft yet commanding demeanor. "Would you mind getting me a status update from _those_ guys?" She nodded her head over to the folks working on the Bf 109.

Azusa Sawa had also been observing what was going on with regards to the _Messer_ alongside the two Ooarai commanders, even if only one of said commanders was paying any attention. She shook her head to snap out of her state of watching, as she was actually quite curious about what working on aircraft was like in comparison to tanks. It just seemed so different from her first impressions of what it was like.

 _Swedish Pagans  
Marching ashore  
Forged in Valhalla by the hammer of Thor_

"Oh, yes, of course, Captain!" she stuttered out, having been surprised by hearing Miho speak up. She then started over to the 109 to fulfill her current orders.

Throughout the area in and around the hangars, many people were watching what was going on with the Bf 109. Even some that weren't affiliated with the Arts of Warfare were observing. Why such a high level of attention was paid was because Ooarai's Arts of Warfare programs had earned great notoriety throughout the school's community: it was _them_ who saved the whole school, after all, let alone doing it _twice._ And it was also made well-known that at the heart of the programs were Miho Nishizumi and Erich-Dietrich Hartmann. Hence, the entire school was understandably anxious to see the star fighter take back to the air.

 _Out from Asgard  
Our Viking ship sails  
Never to turn back again!_

In the hangar proper, Azusa was closing in on the 109 and the folks working on it. "Hey, Uncle!" she called out with a hand slightly raised, but she immediately realized what she said with a look to match that stunned realization. "Ah, no, I mean… Anton…"

Anton had heard the call and turned around from running the ammo belt through the belt guide of the left-hand MG 131 to look over to who had called out for him. He found Azusa to be the one to call, and he blinked as it registered in his mind that she had actually called him 'Uncle,' a nickname he had gained from how he was so caring to all of the _Rabbit_ Team's girls. He was much like an uncle, the girls had figured, and the name stuck. It wasn't said in public, though, for fear of embarrassment on the girls' part.

 _Oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OOOH-OH-oh!_

And embarrassed was exactly how the young brunette girl felt at the moment as her face flushed red and she started fidgeting nervously while looking anywhere but directly at the blonde American. Several seconds of silence passed as both comprehended the situation. "… I-I'm so sorry…" Azusa stuttered out eventually with a highly embarrassed smile. "Oh God, this is so embarrassing…" she continued more quietly.

 _Oh-OH-oh!  
Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OH-OH-oh-oh-oh-oh-oooooh!_

' _Aw, what a cutie…_ ' Anton thought to himself as he grew a gentle smile. He thought such a thing because Azusa, along with the rest of the freshmen girls, often reminded him of his younger sister, and the current scenario was no exception. "Hey," he beckoned as he reached forth and put a hand on her shoulder. The action got her to look up at him. "It's alright. No need to worry about that." He reassured her with a gentle voice that almost instantly made her relax.

 _Where brothers have passed  
Is where we will be proven on ground stained by blood_

Azusa soon lit up, though, when she remembered why she had called out to him in the first place. "Oh, right! Anton!" she beckoned with her voice. Anton raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking her to continue. "Captain Nishizumi wanted to know what the current status was for the _Messer._ "

 _(Standing tall)_

 _And we know if we fall_

"Ah, well tell her that we're nearly finished up," the blonde American informed in a more casual manner. "We just have to get a few basic things tied up and then it'll be ready for a shakedown flight."

"Okay," Azusa nodded in acceptance. "Thanks." The brunette girl then chose to walk off and inform Miho of what she learned. She walked off at a rather hasty pace while looking down a bit, suggesting she was still somewhat ashamed of herself for her verbal slip-up.

 _Our comrades await in the hall  
(Odin's calling)_

 _As the fire inside  
Is ignited by bloodshed  
In berserkers from North_

From his spot where he had reattached the oil cooler under the nose of the 109, David Faul's lips twisted up ever so slightly. He had been watching the interaction between Azusa and Anton, and he grew an idea from it. "Hey!" he called out, aiming his call in Anton's direction. "Brother!"

 _Could it be as was said  
When the serpent be woken  
Fenrir howls!_

Anton froze at the callout as a huge amount of annoyance started sinking into his grin. He then whirled around and started for David at a brisk walk, having been able to quickly deduce why his best friend was calling him that.

 _Swedish Pagans  
Marching ashore  
Forged in Valhalla by the hammer of Thor_

 _Out from Asgard  
Our Viking ship sails  
Never to turn back again!_

David, in response, started walking away backwards, yet he held a somewhat amused grin with a tinge of deviousness. "Sorry about that, my mistake, bro," he mock-apologized. After a few seconds, Anton chose to start running after the black-haired American. In response, David turned around and broke into a run, and he was lightly laughing all the while. "My bad, bro!"

 _(First to the battle  
First to the feast)_

"Oh, I'm gonna kill you for saying that!" Anton yelled, yet his tone was that of mock-anger. "I know you heard what happened earlier, so don't try and play it off!" The blonde American knew that his friend was just having some usual fun in messing with him, so a part of him wasn't _truly_ mad with him, but he still had a wish to make him pay for his call-out. He just decided he would partake in the little friendly rivalry David had just instigated.

 _(Destiny waiting  
No retreat)_

 _(Retreat)_

Elsewhere on her way to Miho's location, Azusa had heard what was happening back at the Bf 109, and she decided to take a curious look back over her shoulder. She grew a slightly panicked look when she saw Anton running around the _Messer_ chasing after David, but she started giggling in amusement when she saw their faces held no hard feelings. She could see that they were quite close friends, such that they could do things such as having fights between them that ended up in them getting some true fun from it, since they knew each other so well that they didn't hold anything against each other. After taking in the sight, she chose to turn her head back forward and continue on, but she was in a lighter mood now from seeing the two Americans' actions.

Back where Miho was at, nothing had really changed from earlier. Erich was still doing his thing, what with being sprawled out in the lawn chair he was sleeping in, and Miho was still standing behind him. The only real change was that Miho was absently playing with the blonde's face using her hands.

She continued doing that action even after spotting Azusa approaching them. The light brunette German girl offered a kind smile as her rumored _Doppelgänger_ returned. Miho had heard that some people had honestly mistaken Azusa for her, which she didn't blame on anyone in particular; she had noted that the two of them _did_ have surprisingly similar appearances. "Hey, Azusa," Miho greeted as the other brunette girl came and stood beside her. "So, what did they say?"

"Well, they said that it should be-" Azusa began, but she was cut off by a loud Canadian voice.

"Done, eh!" Nathan McBraun proclaimed to the entire hangar. He was loud enough to be heard even by those outside the hangers, which, predictably, drew everyone's attention to the 109 and the crew working on it.

A brief flicker of time passed before Miho felt her hands get pulled forward quickly. That was caused by Erich snapping awake and making a dash out of his girlfriend's hands and to his Bf 109 K-4, now ready to fly again with all of its covers installed.

" _Scheiß!_ " Miho briefly yelped when she began getting forced forward, but she recovered her balance and stood straight, which allowed her to process what just happened. "Hey, calm down, _Bubi!_ " she yelled after the blond-haired German ultra-ace, much like how a mother would yell after her children. Ironically enough, it was times like these that Miho honestly felt like she _had_ to act as Erich's mother due to just how childish he was in day-to-day life.

"Well, that was quick…" Azusa observed. She had originally meant to refer to the ground crew finishing up with their work, but she held her tongue when she spotted Erich seemingly jump up from his sleep and dash over to the 109. She then said her statement upon realizing it could apply to both scenarios.

" _Ich werde wiederfliegen!_ " Erich's voice radiated with excitement at being able to finally fly again. He quickly jumped up and climbed into the cockpit of the _Messer._ He instinctively flicked the starter switch, and after a couple of seconds of cranking, the large DB 605 engine roared to life and began turning the three-bladed broad-blade VDM propeller.

 _Swedish Pagans  
Marching ashore  
Forged in Valhalla by the hammer of Thor_

 _Out from Asgard  
Our Viking ship sails  
Never to turn back again!_

The inverted V12 completely filled the hangar up with its burbling idle, and everyone instinctively moved everything out of the path to the hangar doors. The ground crew for the Bf 109 instead moved toward the fighter. They helped to position the aircraft so as to allow a straight exit. The sound of _Swedish Pagans_ playing over the speakers wasn't entirely overruled, though.

 _Oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!_

"Did he always do this?" Anzu leaned over and curiously asked Miho, who stood beside her. She and the light brunette German girl had ended up near each other during the shuffling to clear out of the 109's path.

 _Oh-OOOH-OH-Oh!_

 _Oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OOOH-OH-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!_

Miho simply shook her head exasperatedly with a smile, knowing that this was indeed something entirely like what Erich would do. "He lives in the sky," she returned. "I think it's only natural that he would act this way after not being able to fly for a week."

 _Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OOOH-OH-Oh!_

Anzu grew a knowing grin at her assumption. "You must have quite a high tolerance of silliness if you can deal with him _every_ day," she responded with a teasing tone.

Miho grew a soft smile at those words as she reminisced briefly, looking back on the decade she had known Erich. She agreed without a doubt that the blonde was quite immature by comparison to everyone else, but she didn't necessarily see that as a flaw. Instead, she saw it as something that made each and every day with him interesting.

 _Oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OOOH-OH-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!_

At the same time, the Bf 109 K-4, bearing the black tulip nose paint job and knife insignia on the tail, lowered its flaps. Immediately after they locked into their take-off setting, Erich threw the throttle lever forward in the cockpit, eager to get into the air again.

 _Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!_

"He's truly one-of-a-kind," Miho finally responded to Anzu's statement with a smile. The short twin-tailed girl didn't bother responding verbally, for two reasons. One was because she fully agreed with the notion that Erich had no equal in terms of personality, and the second was that, even if she had something to say, the extremely loud noise of the Bf 109 K-4's DB 605DC engine spinning up to unleash its take-off power would've drowned everything out.

With 2,000 PS propelling it forward, the _Kurfürst_ quickly accelerated forward and out of the hangar, and Erich skillfully controlled the plane, avoiding the 109's tricky take-off characteristics. A couple of seconds after exiting, the German fighter became airborne once again, and its flaps and landing gear were retracted into their respective places in the wings. The 109 then went into a left-hand horizontal turn, completely exposing its semi-elliptical wing planform and currently extended automatic leading edge slats to the crowd that had gathered at the hangar doors to watch the infamous German fighter in the Ooarai markings fly again. Everyone down on the ground looked up at the _Messer_ with a sense of accomplishment and relief that the blond-haired German ultra-ace was back and ready to fight again.

 _Oh-OOOH-OH-Oh!_

 _Oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-Oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH-Oh!  
Oh-OOOH-OH-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooooooh!_

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	91. Kapitel 19,1,10

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Zehn: Der echte Körper!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Up above the _Zuikaku_ in the clear blue skies, the sounds of aircraft engines were plentiful. The large-displacement piston engines dominated the skies, although there was also a hint of rocket engine sounds interlaced with them. The firing of guns of all sizes was also present, beginning and ending at random. All of these sounds helped to create a symphony of an all-out warzone.

 _Are you playing?!_  
 _Do you follow the conductor's lead?_

The causes behind the orchestra of death were none other than the Ooarai _Jägermeistern Staffel,_ with some help from the Ooarai _Panzerkraft Zug._ The mish-mashed teams were participating in one of the large-scale practices that the collective Arts of Warfare programs of the school sometimes orchestrated for the purpose of increasing the cohesion of the _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ teams.

 _No one knows you!_  
 _No one cares about a single violin_

At least, that was the _official_ reason. In reality, this current session was a bit different. Down on the ground, things were relatively normal; it was a practice fight with both sides having four tanks each. But in the air, it was an all-against-one type of scenario; all of the other Ooarai fighters chose to try and take down Erich's Bf 109 K-4, much like how it was during the school's first ever practice. Since it was a large-scale practice, everyone wore their combat outfits respective to their team.

 _Play the score of the damned!_

On the ground within a small clearing in the _Panzerkraft_ training grounds, the _Panzer_ IV H commanded by Miho came to a stop and fired its 7,5 cm KwK 40 L/48 from within roughly 200 meters of its target: Rabbit Team in the M3 Lee, at the other edge of the clearing within close range. The _Panzergranate_ 39 hit the unaware American medium tank directly in the rear of the hull, which obliterated its engine and sent up its white flag to signify its defeat.

 _Know the devil within!_

Up about 5,000 feet in the air, rather low altitude for an air battle, things were not going according to plan for the seven fighters, as they were much like the single violins compared to their sole opponent; the 109 piloted by their _Staffelkapitän,_ the conductor of the score of music played by the masterful war machines.

" _The sound of the mortars!_  
 _The music of death!_  
 _We're playing the devil's symphony!_  
 _Our violins are guns!_  
 _Conducted from hell!_ "

The blond-haired German ultra-ace remained focused on his surroundings, though he chose to self-indulge a bit and sing along to some Swedish power metal from his phone since he had no need to be on radio comms. They weren't needed since he was playing the role of a one-man air force at the moment due to his team's wish to try and take him down. He broke out of his current zoom climb to double back and dive on an unaware F4F-3 trying to climb up to higher altitudes in a different direction.

" _Hallo zusammen! Ich bin es wieder!_ " Erich next heard the DJ from the radio station his phone was set to. " _Ich hoffe, ihr seid gut! Jetzt-_ " Said DJ greeted everyone with their own reintroduction of self and said they hoped everyone was doing well, until Erich mentally tuned them out. During the chatter, he closed the distance with the _Wildcat,_ and he fired his weapons from extremely close range. The F4F was simply obliterated from the short burst of 30 mm _Minengeschoße_ striking it: its tail was torn off from the massive explosive power of the MK 108's shells, and the plane's remaining fuel was set ablaze as well. Whatever remained of the burning American naval fighter was abandoned by its pilot, Matthias Klose, as he swung back the canopy and bailed out of the now useless fighter. The 109 continued on its current heading for a few seconds.

" _Ugh, Sauanzeigen,_ " the blond-haired boy muttered his annoyance with the advertisements the DJ was no doubt about to play. It didn't seem that he was paying much attention to the fight, but such thoughts were most certainly wrong. He simply found an opportunity to have his own fun simultaneously, even if it seemed extremely odd to anyone that wasn't him.

He pulled up on instinct to meet the attack of the fast-diving Me 163, built to the specifications of the Me 163B V18 with the HWK 109-509B dual-chamber rocket engine. The blond-haired German's move foiled the _Komet's_ attack, and Yeager, the pilot of the rocket-powered fighter, had to head into a climb to recycle his energy levels.

Erich looked around for a bit and took notice of both the burning F4F fuselage falling from the sky and its parachuting pilot, and he briefly got onto the radio for a quick transmission to every radio device he could reach. "Hey, burning plane falling from the sky with its pilot parachuting," he calmly broadcast an alert before he went silent, having said what he wished to say. He then jerked the controls and broke left to evade the Fw 190 D-12 diving on him, forcing Aprikose Novat, the _Dora's_ pilot, to miss his shot.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _... burning plane... from sky... its pilot..._ " was all Miho could hear of Erich's broadcast from her Panzer IV H on the ground. Static interfered with the transmission, but from what she heard, she immediately grew a look of terror upon comprehending it for herself.

The light brunette girl sprung up through her hatch and quickly inspected her surroundings with her heart racing. She was, by her very nature, heavily determined to not let anyone die on her watch, hence her look of horror upon finding the burning plane mentioned finally impact the ground and incinerate itself and the surrounding area.

Miho briefly raised a hand to cover her eyes from what remained of the fuel load and ammunition combusting into a bright fireball on impact with the ground. "Mako, get to that wreck! Quickly!" she commanded with a greater insistence than usual for her after removing her hand. Every time someone's life was in danger was a moment where Miho lost all thoughts in her mind except for those concerning how to save whoever was in trouble, and her entire crew fully understood the reasons behind her reaction immediately when it occurred. That being said, the sleepy tank driver complied immediately and set the _Panzer_ IV into motion towards the fallen fighter.

The wreck itself was in the forest for the tank grounds, though the trees in the forest still made traveling off the paths difficult and slow-moving. The German tank still continued through the shrubbery and thick tree trunks, trampling over them until it was forced to come to a stop a little further away than what its commander wanted.

"Terrain's too obstructive to pass through," Mako calmly notified with her usual impassive tone. "You'll have to continue on foot."

"Got it," Miho nodded with a fierce determination in her eyes. She then turned to look over to the loader's spot while she herself popped open the commander's hatch. "Yukari, come with me!"

"Yes!" Yukari replied affirmative with the same fiercely determined expression as she swung open the loader's hatch and moved to climb out.

Both the commander and the loader dropped down from the front of the _Panzer_ IV and continued forth from there, making their way through the thick shrubbery and dense tree concentration with haste. There was no way the German tank would get through that kind of terrain without digging itself a ditch. Add to that the fact that the burning remains of the F4F some distance ahead had been spreading their flame front over time, and the self-determined rescuers found a great challenge ahead of them.

"Matthias!" Miho called out at the top of her lungs, trying to get the F4F pilot's voice to return her call and give her a rough direction of where he was. The light brunette German girl heard nothing, so she called out again in the same tone as before. "Matthias!"

Miho then heard a very slight noise, almost too quiet to be picked up over the crackling flames, and she stopped heading in the direction of the fallen naval fighter to listen. She faintly heard the sound of something rustling, and she strained her ears to see if she could zero in on the direction of it.

"This way!" the light brunette determined and took off again, heading in the direction of her ten o'clock with Yukari following. Both made their way past some more trees and shrubbery, which also took them further from the flames, and then Miho called out again. "Matthias!"

" _Sieh nach oben!_ " a young German voice was heard in response.

Miho stopped upon hearing a return voice, but she did as they asked and looked up. What she found was one Matthias Klose hanging from his parachute that had gotten tangled up in the tree branches. She let out a brief cry of relief seeing him seemingly alright, but she thought it would help to ask anyway. "Are you alright?!"

"I could use a bit of help getting down!" Matthias responded in good nature. Aside from the fact that he was stuck high in the tree branches tangled with his parachute, he appeared just fine.

Hearing the young German talking like he was fine greatly relaxed Miho and wound down her adrenaline. She let out a huge sigh of relief as she held a hand to her chest. "Yukari… could you…" she tried to ask, though her sudden lapse of energy didn't allow her to fully verbalize her request.

"On it," Yukari responded, having foreseen what Miho wanted to ask anyway. She had moved to climb up one of the trees that the parachute was stuck in with a knife drawn as she moved into a position to try and sever the tangles.

While she did that, Miho chose to lean back against another tree and let the rush of adrenaline flow out from her. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh as she slid down the trunk to the base. ' _Gott sei Dank…_ ' she mentally thanked God for the well-being of a comrade.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	92. Kapitel 19,1,11

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Elf: Unser Held_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

During another day aboard the _Zuikaku_ school ship that housed Ooarai High School, Aprikose Novat was spending some time to wander within his thoughts. He was out near the side of the ship looking out to the sea in his school uniform.

"While _Schulschiffe_ are never _truly_ decommissioned due to just how valuable and usable they are," the Bavarian brunette began in musing as he stared off into the distance. "There are plenty of occurrences where they simply become normal ships. Shells of their former selves, in essence. Whether they are physically converted for another use or are simply left to ride the waves without a school to carry along, I don't believe matters so much. But the real kicker is that those ships are not at all easy to find."

Aprikose then looked up to the bright mid-day sky as he continued. "I like to believe that these school-less ships have found a better place in _Himmel,_ still giving their hearts out. I like to believe that all those children that were taken too early from this world are able to live out the rest of their childhoods there with the help of those ships. They deserve to enjoy a full childhood at some point, even if it's in the afterlife."

The Bavarian then looked back to the horizon, although his brown eyes were looking down a bit lower. "However, as much as that would be desired, that didn't happen." He shook his head. "No, the ships were still down on Earth, but they could only be found in the North Sea, and even then, the conditions had to be just right to be able to discover them."

Aprikose then felt a presence rest their arms along the railing beside him. He only got a glimpse of them out of the corner of his eye, but he could tell exactly who it was by just that, and he grew a slight grin of satisfaction of having them so near. The fluttering of the green short skirt of their school uniform, the long reddish-brown hair tied in pigtails flowing in the wind along with the relatively short height of the person were defining features of them, and the look of pure confidence despite their diminutive stature made this girl instantly recognizable.

"It's said that the only way to find one is during a time of great celebration," Anzu Kadotani chose to enter the musings with as she held an idle smile at the horizon. "Only through slurring, haziness, and toasts with adult beverages can those ships be found. One might wonder, 'just why are adult beverages required to see them?'" The sly diminutive girl glanced at the Bavarian beside her out of the corner of her eye with a grin of implication directed at him.

Aprikose caught the look and returned a similar grin. Both then turned around to face a small group of other students, all wearing Ooarai's school uniform. The other students in particular were the two all-freshmen groups involved within the Arts of Warfare plus a few sophomores: Miho Nishizumi, Erich-Dietrich Hartmann, Anton Silva, and Saori Takebe. The freshmen were showing that they were absorbed in the words being spoken by the two school Presidents, particularly the freshman boys after they heard beer was involved. With the exception of Erich, the sophomores were holding somewhat awkward looks at the very same words as they glanced at each other.

"Well, the reason behind that is because those ships were actually bought by various breweries from back home and repurposed for the production of _Bier!_ " Aprikose revealed with a relatively energetic tone. He had a fist clenched in emphasis of that fact.

"All brewed according to _das Reinheitsgebot,_ of course!" Anzu added. She looked quite satisfied with the current situation if her crossed arms and look of pure confidence said anything.

"YEEEEAAAAAAH!" practically all of the freshmen boys cheered with vigor. Also included in that cheering was the only sophomore that could be considered childish: the appropriately-nicknamed Bubi.

" _Noch ein Bier! Noch ein Bier! Noch ein Bier!_ " was the chanting that followed from all of those from the land of poets and thinkers, except for the lone _Mädel_ in the area that was of the same land.

The one exception, Miho, stood with Saori and Anton as she looked around at all of her other countrymen chant the one phrase considered by many to be highly representative of German culture: 'one more beer.' The light brunette girl lightly and awkwardly laughed at the sight. She did so not because of how it sounded for all the German _Jungs_ to chant that saying, but more out of embarrassment for how those present that _weren't_ from the same homeland would possibly interpret it.

" _Noch ein Bier! Noch ein Bier! Noch ein Bier!_ "

Anzu took it in stride as she bore a toothy smirk at the _Jungs,_ having already witnessed and embraced such antics on a smaller scale with the other Bavarians of the student council. The freshman girls had looks of childish curiosity at what was going on, but Anton and Saori held looks of pure loss. Both turned their heads over to Miho with a look on their faces that beckoned for an explanation as to what in God's name they were watching.

The light brunette German _Mädel_ held her awkward smile and blushed red with embarrassment as she looked down and away from them. "We're not _just Bier-Trinker…_ " she quietly tried to counter. She chanced herself and briefly looked up to see what everyone was doing, but she regretted it immediately and retreated to looking down in embarrassment. "… But we _do_ drink a lot of it, I guess…" she relented upon the sight she witnessed.

The exact sight she witnessed was all of the _Jungs_ trying to chug down a liter mug of beer as quickly as they could. She hadn't seen where the mugs and beer had come from, but after a moment of thought she rationalized that Aprikose was the source of them. ' _Ugh, typische Bayern…_ ' Miho mentally sighed out the thought of the Bavarian's typically Bavarian behavior. She then remembered the connection between him and the diminutive yet confident Japanese girl, and she shot a pouty and embarrassed glare at said girl for encouraging her _Freund's_ antics.

" _A maß!_ " both Aprikose and Erich requested a refill as they waved their empty mugs around. They finished first, though they were closely followed by the six freshman boys some seconds later. " _A maß! Noch ein Bier, bitte!_ "

Anzu caught the mock glare being sent her way, and she simply burst into uncontrollable laughter, knowing full well what she was glaring at her for. ' _Sorry, not sorry!_ ' she thought to herself holding no shame whatsoever.

"… These folks have some really strange pastimes," Anton bluntly stated after a long silence from him, and Saori couldn't help but nod in agreement. The freshman girls heard as well and absently nodded in agreement, too, finding those football-playing boys they so often found themselves around even stranger than they thought before.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	93. Kapitel 19,1,12

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwölf: Spinalreflex**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Another day was in the midst of being, and with another day came another day of work for the two Arts of Warfare commanders of Ooarai High School. Being the overall leader of any combat arm came with a lot of duties, and the current duty that took up all available space, and then some, on the table in the shared apartment of those two leaders was the most boring of all duties: paperwork.

 _Double seven thirty-four_

Though, really, only one of them was doing any work. With a mechanical pencil in hand, Miho was seated upright looking over some of the paperwork at her place at the table while Erich chose to be himself in the seat opposite. By being himself, he was simply being so extremely lazy that he couldn't really be bothered to lift so much as a finger if it wasn't necessary. His current demeanor included a blasting of Swedish power metal around the apartment while slouching back. Both were still in their school outfits after letting out from classes, for differing reasons though: Miho was simply too proper-mannered to go against the dress code while still on the ship, while Erich was simply too lazy to bother changing out of his school outfit. All he did to change was ditch the tie.

"So, we'll need about 200 more 7,5 cm _Panzergranaten_ 39, about 50 more 8,8 cm _Panzergranaten_ 39, about 100 more Type 90 APHE shells, around 50 more M61 shells, about 100 more M51B1/B2 shells, around 7,734 Type 1 APHE shells…" Miho read over to herself as she recorded some figures, but she stopped after her latest recording and looked stunned for a bit that the Swedish power metal had infiltrated her thought process. She quickly recovered and looked to the blonde across the table. "Hey, would you mind?" she implied with a glare.

Erich sat up and found his partner, in more ways than one, glaring at him. He blinked in response. "What?" he asked, clueless to what he'd done.

Miho suppressed the urge to roll her eyes in annoyance and simply continued, "Would you mind turning down your music and actually _helping_ me with this?" She emphasized by spreading her arms at the table's contents, particularly at all of the paperwork.

Erich thought it over for a second before answering with an amused smile, "No." He then resumed to slouching back and doing what he did prior, which was absolutely nothing.

 _Almighty lord we have come to your hall!_

"Uuuuuuuugh…" Miho grunted out quietly in a bit of frustration. ' _I should've been expecting that kind of response from him,_ ' she mentally reflected on the blonde's response.

 _Do glatem live!  
Creator of all!_

Deciding that it would take nothing less than an act of God to get her boyfriend to help her out with paperwork, Miho chose to continue doing it by herself. But after her silent cursing of Erich's laziness passed by in her mind, she realized just how exhausted she was from her near-endless amount of work.

 _Open your heart!  
And you will find a way!_

"Jesus, I didn't realize how tired I had gotten…" she said to herself while she rolled her shoulders, hearing them crack in the process. "Alright, time for a little stretch, then."

 _Paradise calling!  
And enter you may!  
(Fall-ing! Down!)_

Setting her pen down, Miho moved to stretch her arms above her head and back as much as she could, to help with getting rid of the stiffness that plagued her body because of sitting for so long. She grunted during said process, a testament to how fatigued she was getting. But her body then began to go through the motions of a very familiar dance subconsciously.

 _Now your soul returns to paradise!_

She gasped in shock as the realization hit her like an 88 mm shell. ' _There's no way that… No! It can't have been ingrained into my body!_ ' she mentally panicked at the possibility as she flushed a deep red in embarrassment. Her eyes then caught a particular blue pair of eyes staring back at her, and her breath hitched.

 _Double seven thirty-four!_

Across from her, Erich had been watching the little scene of Miho subconsciously dancing the Anglerfish Dance, or Sea Devil Dance as it's also known, having found nothing else to entertain himself with, but his response was the same as the light brunette's, only more contained. He too was somewhat shocked at what had transpired.

 _Now your soul returns to paradise!_

A few tense seconds passed as they stared into each other's eyes. Miho's mind was turned to mush, as she could not think coherently at all besides for her wish to stay silent, afraid that if she spoke, she would make an even bigger fool of herself.

 _Double seven thirty-four!_

Erich, however, slowly grew a mischievous grin as he played with his phone a bit. After 7734 ended, he switched the music to the very same music that went with the Anglerfish Dance. He held out his phone and, just before pressing play, looked over to Miho and said with a deeper, more husky tone, "Dance for me, _Miholein._ "

 _Ah-Ah-AHN-Aaaahn  
Ah-Ah-AHN-Aaaahn_

Immediately upon the song starting, Miho stood up and began performing the dance to go with it, although it was not by her choice. Rather, her body chose to betray her and do it anyway.

 _Ah-Ah-Ahn  
Ah-Ah-Ahn  
Ahn-Ahn-Ahn_

" _Ich hasse dich so sehr!_ " the light brunette girl practically screamed at the blonde just how much she hated him right now. She was even more red in the face from realizing that her body was betraying her even more than she first thought: her body was actually getting aroused from having his eyes on her body as it betrayed her by doing the dance she grew to be so embarrassed by.

" _Ja, ja, ich liebe dich auch,_ " the blond-haired ultra-ace dismissed with a sarcastic yet still truthful response of reciprocated love as he watched on, highly entertained by the situation his girlfriend was stuck in. Seeing that his intentions were successfully implemented, Erich simply laughed and watched his girlfriend perform the dance, knowing full well that she didn't want to.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _The music belongs to_** **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	94. Kapitel 19,1,13

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Dreizehn: All-Star-Besetzung_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Zuikaku,_ there was plenty of activity bustling about on the top deck, most specifically by the hangars for Ooarai High School. Why activity was so high over there was because of a couple of visitors from Schwarzwaldspitze High School. It was the middle of the day, so everyone in Ooarai was in their school outfits.

Resting outside of the hangars was the transport for the German visitors: a Focke-Wulf Fw 200, also known by the _Kondor_ nickname because of its very wide wingspan being likened to the wings of a condor bird. Originally a four-engine passenger airliner and later used for various military purposes, the four-engine aircraft became perhaps most famously known as the Scourge of the Atlantic because of its abilities as a commerce raider during the Battle of the Atlantic: during its brief service in anti-shipping work, it sunk over 300,000 tons of shipping, even though it was not at all intended for such roles at the design stage. That was reflected most in the models converted to bombers, which had a tendency to break up on landing, and that problem was not entirely resolved.

Fortunately, the Fw 200 resting at Ooarai's hangars had not broken up upon landing. This particular model was decorated with a forest green topside and sky blue underside to serve as camouflage, and on its wing surfaces and fuselage sides was the Iron Cross insignia that served as Schwarzwaldspitze's markings. On the tail surface, instead of a _Hakenkreuz_ like what would've been used in the era it came from, the tail was instead decorated in the black, red, and gold tricolor of Germany. On the nose was the unique variant of the _Reichsadler_ used on the _Panzerkraft_ tournament victory banner that carried a _Tiger_ I in place of the _Hakenkreuz._ This particular model also had the _Bola_ ventral gondola characteristic to the C models, though it was not armed with any form of weaponry, whether it be defensive guns or bomb loads.

Although not outlandishly flashy in its appearance, the _Kondor_ was very imposing, and its markings portrayed a sense of power on their own as well, all of which reinforced the notion of how powerful its owner was. That was enough to make most of the Ooarai students stand straighter and watch their behavior, though to the crew taking care of it at the moment, which just so happened to be the ground crew for Ooarai's Bf 109 K-4, that didn't make any difference whatsoever.

"I swear, we better get payed good for this," Anton Silva commented nonchalantly. He was in the cabin looking over the various controls and switches to check that they worked properly. "I mean, _surely_ they could spare enough if they have _this_ kind of luxury."

The blonde American that headed the crew was referring to the cabin of the _Kondor,_ which was, to put it simply, worthy of a head-of-state. The cabin was plush and screamed luxury from its red velvet colors. There was a single seat in the cabin that was more like a lounge chair that had a dark brown wooden table in front of it, and on either side running the length of the cabin were benches, although they were more like full-length couches in their appearance and feel.

"But I thought we had volunteered for this?" Herz Benz provided as a counter. He was outside helping to refuel the plane's massive fuel load, which on a good flight could reach around 14 hours in flight endurance. At the moment, he was taking care of the left wing's tanks.

Anton rolled his eyes at the noble Prussian's taunt, knowing he was trying to get under his skin. "You know, for such a high-class person, you're a real dick," he retorted. He knew they wouldn't get paid for their work, but he felt it couldn't hurt to hope.

"It takes one to know one, doesn't it?" David Faul offered. He was on the right side of the Fw 200, doing the same thing with refilling the wing tanks on that side. He was plenty used to picking on Anton, having done it for years already as his best friend.

"Well, jeez, _thanks bestie,_ " Anton sarcastically responded to the black-haired American that he, sometimes unfortunately, considers his best friend. "Good that I can always count on you to back me up…"

"Hey, does one of you have my bore scope?" Nathan McBraun called out. He was on the right side of the Kondor with the inner right engine's cowl taken off as he prepared to tear into that particular Bramo 323 engine and inspect it thoroughly. "'Cause I could really use it right about now, and I know one of you took it, eh."

XXXXXXXXXX

Away from the band of misfits working on the _Kondor_ and further out in the surrounding clearings, Erich-Dietrich Hartmann and Miho Nishizumi were speaking with the Schwarzwaldspitze guests, which included their personal pilot. Only Miho was a part of any actual 'important' conversations, for a few reasons. First was because of the obvious conclusion that Erich would not at all be useful in any productive talks due to his extreme laid-back attitude.

The second, and more important reason, was because the guests were her own family: Maho Nishizumi and Shiho Nishizumi, her sister and mother respectively. Her sister wore Schwarzwaldspitze's dark gray school uniform while her mother wore her usual black business suit. Hence, while she was having a family discussion, Erich was off a few meters away talking with the Nishizumis' unofficial personal pilot: Alfred-Joachim Hartmann, his brother, who also wore the Schwarzwaldspitze school uniform.

"So," Erich began as he held his arms behind his head in a relaxed state. "What's the sitrep for them _this_ time?" They both were well-aware of the Nishizumis' rather conflicted state as a family, having stood alongside them since forever in the Arts of Warfare, and as such have come to expect altercations because of that.

"I'm sure you can guess," Alfred responded. He stood up with a straight posture with arms crossed, looking incredibly professional in demeanor. "More of the 'right way' _Scheiße._ " That was only partially true in a sense. In reality, the Nishizumis were actually talking about Miho's ways with trying to get Erich into a socially acceptable person, but Alfred would be damned before he said that to Erich. He didn't wish to impose their will on him, as much as he shared it.

The blonde Hartmann rolled his eyes in exasperation. " _Of course_ it is…" he belatedly responded. He then turned to look at the group of Nishizumis, focusing specifically on the eldest of the group. "You know, no offense to her or anything, but that woman seems to me to be a _Panzer_ in and of herself."

The black-haired Hartmann took a side-glance at his brother. " _Hä?_ " he offered back in confusion, though the emotion didn't show on his face in any way besides a raised eyebrow.

Erich smiled and chuckled a bit. "She really is one if you think about it," he elaborated with a highly amused smile. "For instance, she refuses to let anyone into her personal life, so she has the armor down. Then there's her ' _weiter vorrücken_ ' way of doing everything, and I _do_ mean _everything,_ so that's the treads. And then there's her way of speaking, which sounds very focused and powerful in its projection and is plenty able to be a weapon in itself, meaning she's got the cannon as well."

Alfred simply held his raised eyebrow at his younger brother for a few seconds of silence before his normal unemotional gaze returned and focused on the three Nishizumis. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," he said in response. He waited a few seconds before adding, with his lips turned up ever so slightly in amusement, "Otherwise I would say that to her over and over again before laughing in her face about it, because it's so true."

Erich simply threw his head back and laughed greatly at the response he got from his elder brother. Although very much different in several ways, the two Hartmann brothers are also quite similar in several ways.

It did not go unnoticed to all three Nishizumis a few meters away as to what was going on with the two boys. All three of them cast glances in their direction to find Erich laughing greatly and Alfred with a barely noticeable expression of amusement.

"Well, there's a rare sight," Maho commented nonchalantly. "Alfred actually said something amusing."

"Hey, you know that's not nice to say those things," Miho retorted with her idle smile.

"You _do_ realize that to anyone else, the sight of the Black Devil being amused by something is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of ordeal?" the elder of the sisters asked while casting a glance of mock-annoyance to her younger sister.

Miho giggled slightly before nodding. "Okay, point taken," she relented and conceded that such a sight was indeed excessively rare.

"I must admit that I've never seen such things before from him," Shiho commented in her typical unwavering way. "But I suppose that everyone has their inner comedian, some more than others." The stern German woman left it unsaid that she could hear exactly what the Hartmanns were saying. Her former experience in battle has not dissipated over the years, even after she left her _Tiger_ I and began the arduous work of training others to fight in the Arts of Warfare. Her senses were still as sharp as ever, so if she was pissed at the boys' remarks, then she was doing a great job of hiding it.

"Yeah, some more than others…" Miho agreed as she fell into a daze. She fell into a stupor watching her long-time blonde friend laugh uproariously, and she was quite attracted to the scene. ' _Gott, he's so cute when he laughs,_ ' she thought to herself.

Maho and Shiho took note of Miho's entranced gaze, and the two of them cast doubtful glances at each other, silently wondering if they had just come there for nothing.

"Lady Nishizumi!" all three of them heard someone call out. Miho snapped out of her trance and turned to face the source of the voice, and the other two Nishizumis followed. They found out that Yukari was the one calling them from a ways away.

"Wait, what?" Yukari fumbled out in confusion. She had not thought that all three Nishizumis would respond to her, and she found herself in a very awkward position because of it ' _Dammit, I can't believe I forgot to come up with a way to address Lady Nishizumi when her family's present!_ ' she mentally cursed herself. ' _Um… let's see, what to do…_ '

After a brief few seconds to think, she finally came up with something. "Ah, I mean the young and lively Lady Nishizumi!" the tank guru called out again.

In response, Maho and Shiho rushed forth to meet Yukari while Miho stayed where she was. Yukari was left in an even more awkward position, even though she knew that time what to ask for.

Erich and Alfred saw the scene and found the huge irony of it as they grinned in amusement, Erich more so because of his greater ability to show emotion. "Oh, the irony…" the blond-haired ultra-ace remarked.

Alfred cleared his throat. "I believe she means the one with a heart!" he called out across the clearing.

Everyone except Erich turned to face him with varying expressions, and those expressions combined with Alfred's comment made Erich throw his head back in laughter again.

Yukari was confused about the entire situation she had practically walked into, and Shiho held her stone expression, as if unaffected herself. But Maho was far from the same. She was glaring intensely at Alfred, getting across the message that she was going to screw him over for that.

Despite the pissed-off glare he was getting from Maho, the black-haired ultra-ace simply stood there as if the glares didn't even affect him, though he had an ever-so-slight expression of amusement that would be missed by anyone without the Nishizumi or Hartmann name.

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 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	95. Kapitel 19,1,14

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Vierzehn: Das Wunder des Zufalls_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Many people were up and about aboard the _Zuikaku_ early in the morning. The large school ship was bustling with traffic on its top deck, and almost all such traffic had a single destination: the school. It was the start of a new day, and with the new day came another day of learning. This reason was enough to motivate most of the people to get to the school, as their quick paces demonstrated.

Others, though, required quite a lot more persuasion to proceed. Enter 'The _Bubi_ Problem': Erich was one of those people that needed such persuasion on a daily basis. His form of persuasion was Miho, perhaps the only girl who would refuse Erich what he wanted if it was necessary.

Such times included right now, where she was dragging him along the street on their way to school amidst the crowd. She had him supported by having their arms slung across each other's shoulders, with her bearing their weight. Erich himself was conked out, but he wasn't the only one there who was.

"Goddammit, David, why do you do these things…" Anton muttered in an exasperated tone. He was in a similar situation with having to support David as he dragged him to the school, as well. The black-haired American being dragged along was also conked out and unresponsive to the world around him.

Saori simply grunted as she tried to drag along an unconscious Mako. All together, the whole group was very sluggish in getting to the school, almost entirely because of the three that refused to come back to consciousness. It's not like that was enough to stop them, though: Miho, Anton, and Saori all had deep friendships spanning a decade with the respective ones they were dragging, so they had plenty of experience in this field.

The reason the three that were unconscious _were_ unconscious, though, wasn't because of the usual reason of sleepiness.

"You know, I would've thought that at least one of them would've woken up by now, but I guess not," Saori commented.

Miho, in response, shook her head. "Forget about that ever happening," she dismissed. "There's no way any of them are getting up after what they went through last night."

Anton nodded in agreement. "Amen to that," he agreed verbally. "That's the last time I'm letting David waste himself away."

Saori grunted again as she shifted to get some better support with dragging Mako. "I don't think I heard about what happened," she commented afterwards with a look that combined her exhaustion and curiosity. "So what exactly went down last night? I remember Mako didn't show up to our girls' night, and I figured she just went off to do her own thing."

Miho rolled her eyes as she briefly recalled what occurred. "This _Dummkopf_ thought it'd be a good idea to get hammered at a bar last night with guess which two people?" she said with annoyance to the end. Her tone displayed clear disappointment in the blonde she was dragging.

Anton kept the ball rolling, "The two people that have the most reason to drink away their sorrows." Anton wasn't dumb with his best friend's situation: he was well aware of the of David trying to use alcohol to find peace with all he's suffered, particularly in how his parents' lives were taken by people who held no regrets or remorse about the act, and how the same people had just barely failed to claim his brother numerous times. Adding to that, it wasn't the first time the black-haired American had done such things, either. The blonde American then shrugged noncommittally. "I mean, I guess I can't fault _Bubi_ for trying to find a way to help, but there's the whole culture difference between him and them that I don't think he knows about."

Saori had an eyebrow raised as she comprehended the words. "Huh, well I didn't expect _that,_ " she admitted. She then looked down ever so slightly and continued in a softer, more distant tone. "Though Mako definitely has reason to try what you all said she did last night." The ginger knew that Mako was a relatively lonely girl: she had no one in her family left besides her grandmother, and she held an even deeper regret than what would be considered normal for one's parents being taken by an accident. Her regret stemmed from the fact that she had argued with her parents the morning before they were killed in an accident, and because of that, she no longer had the chance to apologize for her actions, forcing her to carry that burden.

"I swear when _Bubi_ comes to that I'm going to tie him to the _Panzer's_ roof and fire off all the shells we have," Miho swore with a clearly pissed look. "This'll be the _worst_ hangover ever for him, mark my words."

Saori and Anton both took a second to stare at Miho with bewildered looks. Both then looked to each other with the same looks, as if they couldn't believe that the light brunette _Panzer_ ace, well known for her kind and inviting personality, had seriously sworn to do something so cruel and sadistic as that.

"Hey, you guys look like you're having it rough!" the group heard from ahead. "Let us help you all out!"

The group was caught out of their stupor when they found two people coming in their direction from ahead. Ahead was Akebi Sasaki, who had called out to them, and Shinobu Kawanishi, both in their usual volleyball uniforms and clearly aware of the struggle the three conscious members in the group were going through.

"Oh, please, thank you!" Saori moaned out in relief, looking about ready to collapse. The two volleyball girls saw that the ginger was the most exhausted of the three, so they moved to help her first. They took Mako from her shoulders and took one of the unconscious black-haired girl's hands to drag her by. Saori looked on with a smile of relief, as did Anton, but Miho couldn't find the ability to smile. The cloud of dissatisfaction in her boyfriend hung over her head too much.

"Don't worry about it," Shinobu responded to Saori's gratitude. "Always willing to help out." The two volleyball players then matched pace with Miho and Anton, who still dragged Erich and David respectively under their own power. Mako hung in between the two volleyball girls still conked out.

Nearby in the crowd of people were the freshmen girls of _Rabbit_ Team. All of them were doing their own things when Karina chose to look around the area out of boredom. She caught sight of Miho's group of people and grew wide eyes at the sight of Mako being dragged.

"Aaaaah!" she screamed as she pointed out towards them, at Mako more specifically. "They've captured an alie-!"

She was cut off by Azusa quickly pressing her hand against her mouth to silence the girl. "Just… don't," Azusa warned, though she wasn't too convincing: she held an extremely awkward look at the absurdity of the situation she was caught in, and Karina's exclamation, most likely derived from an anime she had watched, only further drove up the awkwardness.

"Shut uuuuuup!" three people loudly groaned out simultaneously. Erich, David, and Mako had finally been stirred into consciousness by Karina's scream, and they now felt the hammering within their heads. They all immediately winced in pain as soon as the words left their mouths, as the volume proved to be too much for them to handle in their states. They all raised hands to rub their heads in vain efforts to soothe the pain. Anton and Saori grew pained looks seeing their friends in such pain.

Miho, however, showed no sympathy for the one next to her. "Oh, good, you're awake," she said simply. She then began to forcibly drag Erich away from the others. "I'll see you later, guys. I've got a little _problem_ to deal with now."

As the light brunette girl walked away briskly with an iron grip on the blond-haired ultra-ace's wrist, everyone else besides Saori and Anton raised an eyebrow in confusion. Saori and Anton, however, looked to each other with a bit of fear in their eyes. They feared for the kind of treatment Erich would receive from the more villain-like personality that currently dominated Miho's mind.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	96. Kapitel 19,1,15

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Fünfzehn: Schöne Ballabwehr_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Morning was upon the Italian people that inhabited the _Aquila._ And as with every morning aboard the Italian school ship, Anchovy, the highly confident girl with her distinctive twin-tailed hair and mantle over her school uniform, was addressing the entire student body of Anzio High School. All of the Anzio students obediently stood before her except for the one who was too free-spirited to fall in with the crowd: Franco, who was off doing God only knew what.

"So, now that everyone is here," _il duce_ began with her head held high. "I have an idea that I want your opinions on." She looked around to find no opposition to her words, so she continued. "I feel that we should have a match against Ooarai, for fun. And it can be in anything, not just something from the Arts of Warfare. What do you all think?"

" _Urrà!_ " Anzio's student body roared in approval in their typical energetic way.

Anchovy grew a satisfied grin at their reactions. "Okay, that settles it then," she nodded in approval. "Now, the question is: What should we face off against Ooarai in?"

"Already got an idea for you!" one voice confidently determined. Everyone there looked to the source to find Franco approach from behind Anchovy. He was wearing a football, or soccer, uniform that was a dark green for the top jersey and white for the shorts, and, appropriately, he had a football in hand that he was idly tossing up and down in one hand.

The Anzio folks grew a bit giddy at the idea that their _comandante_ was implying, considering that football was one of the favorite sports amongst the entire country.

"Oh, this should be good," Furio commented with a grin to Fernando who was beside him.

"You know it!" the Italian boy with a tendency for committing blunders responded with his usual willingness. "You know that Anzio's the best at football!"

"So, everyone!" Franco loudly began. The whole crowd settled down to give their attention, though there was an itching of impatience in the crowd. The _comandante_ gave everyone a confident smirk though, which went with his next words flawlessly. "You guys want to take on Ooarai in football?!"

"YEAH!" the Italian students roared.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile somewhere else amongst the seven seas aboard the Zuikaku, one particular brunette boy's head shot up, as if by instinct.

The brunette in question was Matthias Klose, and he was spending a night on the town with his little clan of friends, the very same group that look after his F4F-3 on the ground. On the other side of the Earth from the _Aquila_ where the _Zuikaku_ roughly was, night was already firmly set in.

"Whoa, what's up, Matti?" Erik Mertesacker looked over and asked when he saw the jerky motion performed by the de facto leader of the group.

" _Hä?_ " Christoph Weidenfeller wondered as he turned around from his place farther ahead to face the rest. He now walked backwards.

"What? What's up?" Julian Müller asked, ever the energy-filled one of the group.

Matthias remained silent for a bit as he grew lost in thought. He finally shook his head in dismissal of the notion in his head. "It's nothing," he dismissed. "I just thought I sensed someone wanted to challenge us to a Fußball match."

"Oooooh…" the others raised their eyebrows in recognition.

"Well, don't worry about that," Mesut Schweinsteiger spoke up with a large amount self-assuredness that was bordering on overconfidence with his next statement. "We'll crush them anyway. Speaking of which, remember that time we destroyed those cocky Brazilian boys?"

The five young German _Jungs_ burst into laughter upon being reminded of what Mesut had brought up. Bastian Hummels did not join in, as he simply stared off into who knows what. But his eyes did grow a small trace of amusement, as if he remembered that time as well.

" _Ach, ja! Sieben-zu-ein!_ " Christoph recalled the seven-to-one football match with quite a lot of amusement as he tried to speak through his laughter. No doubt all of the young German boys had some humorous memories of the crushing defeat they served out on the football field.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back aboard the _Aquila,_ many of the students had changed into the football uniform that Franco was already in, and all were eager to get into playing a match. All were at a football field – a _real_ football field, not one of those American football fields – that was unused at the moment.

Anchovy was the exception to wearing that football uniform the others wore. Instead, her uniform was entirely orange, and she also donned a pair of gloves, making her role quite obvious.

"As your _duce,_ I'll be the goalie!" she proclaimed with her look of confidence as she stood in front of a net. "And this is how I'll do it!"

She then waved around her hands, as if showing off her abilities to block a shot, but also involved in the display were her twin tails. Her unique hair was waving about in the wind, almost with a mind of its own, it seemed. The twin tails had the look of being able to contribute to blocking shots.

"Behold the Chovy Hair!" Anchovy proclaimed in the midst of her little display of talent. "Looks like I've got four arms, doesn't it? With this, there's no way any shot will get past me!"

"You better get ready then, _duce!_ 'Cause you're getting your first shot to stop!" Franco taunted as he dribbled the ball with his feet. He had only Pepperoni to beat to the goal, and it was a mad dash to get a position for a good shot. Franco got a moment of opportunity and seized it as he punted the ball hard towards the net. The ball barely missed Pepperoni's foot that had extended in a vain effort to block the shot.

The shot went towards Anchovy quickly. The ball was blocked, but not without leaving il duce stunned for a bit. It had hit her directly in the face before bouncing off and sweeping through one of her twin tails before it rolled off to the side of the goal, earning a corner kick for Franco's side.

Anchovy had stumbled back upon being hit, but she shook her head a few seconds later in an effort to clear it. "Well, that was quite a shot," she muttered with an undertone of respect for Franco's brute strength.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	97. Kapitel 19,1,16

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Sechzehn: Em/Aus_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Unrest. That was the overarching mood aboard the _Aquila_ early in the morning.

"Is _il duce_ still not here yet?" one student wondered aloud amongst the large crowd of other Anzio students.

The whole crowd of students was rather talkative that morning, but it wasn't in their usual manner of energy. All of the Italians there were getting a bit distressed without their _duce_ present. It was a most unfamiliar experience to them all for her to not be there on-time.

"I dunno, maybe she slept in?" another student tried to offer a guess. It was laced with uncertainty, though, for no one there seemed to know where their _duce_ was.

"I don't believe this. She's no rebel, so why would she be late?" another student offered a reason. It once again fell flat on its face in tone because of vast uncertainty.

"Hey, guys, there's no need to worry about _il duce's_ whereabouts!" Franco broadcasted his voice from the top of the very wide stair set that the students chose to meet up at for the daily agenda. In Anchovy's absence, it was _il comandante_ who was left to settle everyone's unease, and he was growing to have a hard time doing it, not least of which because everyone was still talking about where _il duce_ could possibly be.

The crowd of Italians was obviously nearing to openly rioting as they grew more unrestful.

"Where's _il duce?!_ " many of them started to yell out in anger. Some of them had even brought out pitchforks and torches to wield in their hands. "Where is she?!"

"Oh, boy, where the hell are you, _duce?_ " Franco muttered to himself as he witnessed everyone stand on the edge of chaos.

But his eyes quickly found someone walking along the sides of the crowd and up the steps, not trying to attract attention but inadvertently catching his. The _comandante_ noted that the person was a girl with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder. She had long gray-greenish hair tied into a braided ponytail and wore some glasses with circular lenses. Besides that, she blended in almost seamlessly with the other Anzio students, wearing the same uniform as the girls did.

"Goddammit, where the hell have you been?" Franco muttered to himself. He knew exactly who that girl was, and it didn't sit well with him in the slightest to see her like that.

He then quickly whisked himself away to find one of his _tenenti_ to watch over the crowd for him, or at least to delay the inevitable of a full-scale riot. "Hey, Furio," he beckoned as he approached.

Furio had been keeping an eye on everything, so he simply gave an affirmative nod, "Got it." Always the more sensible one between him and Fernando, Franco nodded in return before walking off to follow after the girl he saw before, silently trusting that the _Folgore_ ace would be able to reel everyone in for long enough to give him the opportunity to defuse the massive conflict looking to rear its head.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Goddammit, where the hell have you been?!" Franco practically yelled out, none too pleased with all of the chaos nearly ready to unravel in his hands. He managed to hold himself back from a full-on yell to not attract attention.

He and the girl he had followed had reached a small secluded alleyway, away from any prying eyes, and the girl saw this moment to begin transforming herself as she loosened her hair out of the ponytail it was in prior and letting it hang freely down her shoulders and back.

She next removed her glasses and, though she couldn't see as well without them, she gave a glare to Franco anyways. It was one of annoyance, though the way it was done could only be done by one person: Anchovy.

Needless to say, that was exactly the identity of the mystery girl once the glasses were pulled away. "You know," _il duce_ began in a low voice of annoyance as she turned her gaze away and began to place some contact lenses into her eyes. "A pleasant 'How are you?' would've been well appreciated for a greeting instead of speaking to me like I'm about to end this world."

"Well with the way everyone's acting right now because of your absence, I think the world ending looks more likely to happen," _il comandante_ rebutted without hesitance as he stood with arms crossed behind her.

Anchovy gave off a stressed huff. "Well, let's avoid that and hurry out there," she suggested as she started doing her hair into its usual twin-tailed style. She passed a glance towards Franco. "Well don't just stand there. Help me out with this if you don't want a mutiny to break out."

Franco just shook his head and cooperated with helping her with her hair, knowing the alternative to that was far, far worse.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few minutes later, Anchovy sauntered her way to the top of the steps looking just as she always does to everyone else, with her usual hairstyle and mantle plus the crop in one hand, looking every part the confident leader she is.

"Alright everyone, calm down!" she commanded across the wide stone staircase. Immediately upon hearing the booming voice of their leader, all of the Anzio students quieted down and looked up to the stage with varying expressions.

"What the-when did she…?" one of them tried to comprehend the situation, no doubt confused about the sudden appearance of _il duce._

" _Duce!_ " some of the crowd began to cheer for the return of their leader, not bothering to question where she was and simply glad she was back.

"Everyone, your attention to _il duce!_ " Franco boomed his voice across the area. He had come up to stand ahead of Anchovy to quell down the crowd, given that he had the necessary voice to do such things.

After everyone grew silent, he stepped aside to let Anchovy have the stage, but not before shooting a look of begrudging respect to her. Though he may not have liked that she was late, he respected that she had recognized that showing up late in the guise of _il duce_ would set a bad example for everyone to follow, and God only knew that Anzio needed any more bad influences.

Hence, though still not satisfied with her tardiness, Franco still fully understood why she needed an alter-ego of sorts, and even somewhat praised her on it. ' _Honestly,_ ' he mulled in his thoughts, momentarily tuning out Anchovy's review of the day's agenda. ' _She couldn't have done a better job at making sure no one recognized her._ '

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	98. Kapitel 19,1,17

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Siebzehn: Geräte_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Another day, another practice. At least, that was the plan for Anzio's Arts of Warfare programs as activity bristled around the hangars. It explained why all of the Italians involved in said programs were in their battle outfits, which highly resembled the _Arditi_ uniforms for the _Panzerkraft_ team and the _Regia Aeronautica's_ white officer uniforms for the _Jägermeistern_ group.

Anzio was unusually focused on getting to do their training, or that's what it would seem to an outsider. Usually, Anzio's students were actually pretty good at getting prepared for a practice session, particularly the _Jägermeistern_ team, and the reasoning behind that was because of one particular black-haired _comandante_ with a heavy hand.

"Get moving!" Franco barked out as he wildly yet sharply gestured with his arms and crop to direct his gruppo. "Come on, Fernando! You're moving slower than molasses going uphill in January!"

Of course, Fernando, always the oddball to put it lightly, was the only one who didn't seem to be affected by Franco's firm commands. He was dragging his feet to get to his Fiat CR.42 _bis,_ and unintentionally making a show of it.

Everyone else, though, was following their _comandante's_ orders to the T. The other pilots were settled into their respective aircraft, which was a mix of CR.42s and Macchi C.202s, with more of the _Falchi_ than of the _Folgori_ in the mix. Ground crews were working around the clock to get each plane set up, including the lone Fiat G.55 _Serie_ 1 that was flown by Franco himself. The _Folgori_ and the _Centauro_ were taking a bit longer due to them using the Italian-produced versions of the German DB 601 and DB 605 engines respectively. Anzio's ground crews still weren't used to such advanced technology, 'advanced' being relative considering Italy never produced any home-designed aircraft engines with the kind of power output levels that the German inverted V12s had.

Watching off from the side was the trio of _Panzerkraft_ leaders for Anzio: Anchovy, Carpaccio, and Pepperoni. They were simply watching the Italian aviators for no particular reason besides it being the only thing they could do at the moment. The _Panzerkraft_ girls were left to prepare on their own, as Anchovy trusted they wouldn't be able to cause nearly as much trouble as she believed the _Jägermeistern_ folks were liable to cause. The trio silently noted the forceful demeanor that Franco adopted for battles, a personality not usually open to and experienced by the Anzio student body.

After a little, Anchovy deemed it unnecessary to stay any longer, having gotten the information she wanted on the status of the _Jägermeistern_ folks, and she turned to begin to walk away.

"Oh, wait, _duce!_ Could you hold up a sec?" Carpaccio quickly asked Anchovy before she stepped too far away.

Anchovy stopped and looked over to Carpaccio with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?" she asked, not entirely getting why the blonde wanted her attention.

"Just hold still for a bit," Carpaccio responded as she pulled on the hilt of something and drew the object out from a knife's sheath she wore on her left hip.

Anchovy's eyebrows both rose up in surprise upon seeing that Carpaccio did not wield a knife, but a comb, oddly designed using the hilt of a knife.

The comb-wielding blonde offered Anchovy a smile before setting off to start brushing her long greenish-gray twin tails. Anchovy relaxed greatly and let Carpaccio do her thing upon discovering she held no weapon like she had thought prior. Though _il duce_ then perhaps figured Carpaccio just had a unique sense of fashion that she had never seen until now.

The whole scenario had also caught the attention of Pepperoni. "Ah, so _that's_ what you've had in that the whole time?" she wondered.

"Yup," Carpaccio responded while she continued combing Anchovy's distinctive hair.

"Huh," Pepperoni said in recognition. She then moved to draw something from her own dagger sheath, also on the left hip, as she continued. "Well, I've got-"

"AAAAAH!" both Carpaccio and Anchovy screamed in horror and jumped back.

What Pepperoni had drawn was an actual dagger, and not another fashion accessory with a knife hilt like Carpaccio had with her comb. This dagger was the real thing, and its tip and down the blade was covered in blood, nearly fresh by the looks of it. Some of it had flung off the blade when Pepperoni had drawn it.

But before the blundering _tenente_ could explain herself, the blade was quickly smacked away with a crop. The dagger was dislodged from her hand and clanged to the ground several meters away.

All of the girls held even more surprised faces when they discovered it was Franco who had smacked the dagger away with his crop without any prior warning.

Yet, Franco also held some surprise in his face, as if he had not expected himself to do what he just did. "… Sorry. It's just instincts, you know?" he finally spoke up after a long time of silence. He then looked over to the blade, which laid at rest on the ground a few meters away, the sunlight glistening off the stainless steel blade and the blood that coated it. He studied it for a few seconds before speaking up with a look of amusement directed at Anchovy and Carpaccio. "Though really, girls. It's not what you think, what's on that knife. That stuff kind of reminds me of fish mackerel, if anything."

Anchovy and Carpaccio took a look at each other and then towards Pepperoni. _Il duce_ then shook her head, as if not believing something like that just really happened.

"Anyway," Franco awkwardly began. He fully recognized the restraint Anchovy was having to exercise to prevent herself from scolding Pepperoni to pieces and made to end the conversation. "You girls ready yet? If not, get going." He emphasized with a shooing motion.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	99. Kapitel 19,1,18

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Achtzehn: Klientel_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

A swarm of Anzio's students running as a large group was the predominant sight within the square aboard the _Aquila._ Always full of energy, the Italian students, many of them had filled up the square to the point where one unfamiliar with them would question if there was something big about to happen. Though they often _did_ gather into large groups, today was for a different reason than most days.

"Hey, look at what I got in the mail!" one of the boys excitedly revealed to fellow classmates. He spread out a banner that featured the unique _Balkenkreuz_ distinct as Ooarai's.

"Wow, that's awesome!" a girl within the small gaggle reacted with the same high energy. Said student then whipped out a knife, clearly celebratory judging by its impeccable finish, with Ooarai's unique emblem emblazoned on the hilt. The blade itself featured an uncharacteristically elegant signature from Erich-Dietrich Hartmann. "Speaking of which, here's what I got from Ooarai!"

"Oh, no way!" another girl gasped in excitement as her head quickly leaned in close to take a look at the custom knife. "You got the signature edition _Messer?!_ I heard they had only made a hundred of those!"

Up on the steps as the center of attention was a group of six individuals with plenty of experience as members of a student council, Ooarai's to be specific. With the six student council members also were many cardboard boxes, all with the Ooarai insignia on them. Some were opened while others were closed and stacked atop each other. The boxes that were opened had other forms of merchandise within them, all related to Ooarai's Arts of Warfare programs.

"So, are you ladies and gentlemen just so coincidentally fans of Ooarai High School?!" Aprikose Novat spoke up with a loud voice and with a gloriously proud smirk, as if he reveled in the large amount of attention he had garnered just by being himself. He was dressed in a black suit with a white undershirt and a tie featuring alternating white and blue rhombuses, closely resembling the flag of his home state within Germany: Bavaria.

Of course, he wasn't the only of the student council members dressed up. Everyone else besides Anzu was wearing all-black outfits with black-framed sunglasses, altogether looking like a small contingent of security guards.

"If so, then you're in luck!" the diminutive twin-tailed burgundy-haired girl spoke up, also with a very cocky smirk. Anzu had quite the habit of delving into manipulation, hence her satisfaction with being able to beckon control over a large crowd like the Anzio students. She then waved her hand in an inviting gesture. "Come on! There's plenty for everyone!"

The little burgundy-haired ball of mischief was wearing an outfit that, by all counts of logic, should undermine her abilities of manipulation, yet oddly it didn't. If anything, she was even _more_ deceiving because of it. She chose to wear her unique burgundy _dirndl_ specially tailored to her small frame. She was already proving herself an ace in the art of seduction as a good number of the Italian boys of Anzio simply gawked at her.

" _Urrà!_ " was the common cry among the hyped-up Italians as they rushed forth and practically threw their Euros into the hands of Ooarai's student council, all the while clamoring for whatever piece of merchandise they could get.

"This looks nice!" one girl commented as they pointed at a small sculpture of an anglerfish with a shiny finish, like a well-done piece of clay pottery. On the side was a signature signed by very precise and gentle hands judging by its extreme elegance and softness. The signature itself was that of one Miho Nishizumi. "I'll take it!"

"No problem," Zitrus Nardo replied as he finalized the sale. "One signature edition pottery _Anglerfisch._ You're lucky, because that was the last of those we had."

"Ooh, I want this!" another boy of Anzio proclaimed when he caught sight of a hoodie with the Ooarai insignia and colors, which were white and blue.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Yuzu Koyama politely replied as she finalized that sale. "One Ooarai hoodie."

"Hey, we've still got plenty of new stuff left for you all!" Aprikose spoke up as he held up another merchandise item. This one was a plushy model of the shrike that served as the personal emblem for the Bavarian on his Focke-Wulf Fw 190. " _Würgerplüschtiere,_ anyone?"

"I'll take an entire box-full!" a relatively eager Italian girl rushed forth with Euros in hand, though she was far from the only one to take up Aprikose's offer. Many other Anzio students also rushed to try and get one of the shrike plushies for themselves.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later on an unspecified night at the end of that month, Anchovy was sitting hunched over her desk with a calculator and lots of papers, all finance-related. A single lamp was lit up on the desk to help the twin-tailed Italian girl see better.

" _Gesù Cristo,_ the budget is really tight this month, again…" she muttered while engrossed with making calculations. "Why does it always feel like the money goes away before I even hear about it?"

She was stirred from her work by the sound of something striking a wall and remaining embedded in it.

Never one to not help out, Franco was also in Anchovy's little office beside her desk helping look over the finances for that month. The office was little for the same reason Anzio's problems were always caused by: a lack of funds. Il comandante was quite disappointed and even annoyed at the behavior of the Anzio students. He would never place the blame on them though because of sentimentality. Unlike Anchovy, he was actually aware of the mass purchase of Ooarai merchandise.

That beside the point, his annoyance and frustration resulted in him throwing a knife at the wall from his spot beside Anchovy's desk. The knife was not just any old knife, though, even if it seemed otherwise. While not very special in appearance, the single distinguishing factor that identified it was the emblazing of Ooarai's insignia on the hilt. Despite his annoyance with Anzio's student body, it seemed even he caved into peer pressure and got something from Ooarai.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	100. Kapitel 19,1,19

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Neunzehn: Die heutige Krise Nummer eins_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Eat up!" Fernando encouraged as he balanced a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in one hand and a plate with a loaf of bread and salad in the other hand, all while carving a path through the crowd. "There's plenty for you all to enjoy!"

"Yeeeeeeaaaaaah!" was the overwhelming response from both the Anzio crowd and the Ooarai crowd.

It was just after the fight between the Italians and Ooarai's small, mixed group that had ended in victory for the smaller of the two schools. Anzio, being who they were, had thrown a large feast for all of those involved in that day's intense fight to enjoy. And by everyone, the Italians had insisted on everyone, including the judges, referees, and other support sent by the International High School Arts of Warfare Federations.

That 'everyone' had also included someone that Fernando would soon find to be his greatest nightmare.

"Hey, can I get some of that?" Erich waved his hand from his seat to notify Fernando of his request, though the flippant manner in which he did it made him seem arrogant and narcissistic if no one knew any better. Really, he was just someone who didn't see the need in overly-excessive politeness, much to the current chagrin of his best friend. He was at the _de facto_ commanders' table, which consisted of Anchovy, Franco, Miho who was shaking her head at his lack of manners, and himself. Like each of their subordinates, the leaders of each combat arm also had on their combat outfits, there having been no time to change out of them before Anzio threw their feast.

"Ah, _si!_ " Fernando granted with an elated grin. The light brunette Italian was quite prideful in his abilities as a chef, and he handed off a plate with a large salad and an entire loaf of bread to the blond-haired German ultra-ace with that same pride showing on his face. "No need to hold back!"

" _Süüüüü-hüüüüüß!_ " Erich rejoiced with a pumping of his fist before he dug into his food like a starving wolf. Though not sweet like he had previously drawled out during his little bit of rejoicing, he did enjoy the food of those not too far south of his homeland.

Franco and Anchovy were simply staring in wonder at the blond-haired boy, each silently in awe of his eating. The closest comparison either of them could recall was one of the times their school had to temporarily ax some of the more delicious dishes from their menus because of monetary issues. When the previous status quo of food was restored to the cafeteria, it was madness among the lines. So seeing anyone willingly eat like such a savage was something they didn't quite understand.

Miho, though, was not quite the same. While in the back of her mind she did indeed wonder how her closest friend/crush was able to eat like a carnivore yet still retain his slightly smaller than average stature time and time again, at the moment she was more embarrassed by his blatant lack of manners. Unlike him, she placed quite a lot of value into being proper and making a good impression, and having Franco and Anchovy there to observe the stark contrast between them served as the fuel to the red in her cheeks.

It wasn't like she could do anything about it, though. As the light brunette German _Panzer_ ace had come to learn over the decade of knowing him, Erich will do what he wants.

XXXXXXXXXX

After about one hundred more dishes give or take – no one knew exactly how many anymore, having lost track after ten – _Bubi_ was still devouring plate after plate of delicious Italian cuisine. Fernando was standing by his side simply handing off more plates to him that were stacked with whatever was available. The blond-haired German ultra-ace was practically inhaling his servings so quickly that Anzio was having to strain itself to keep up with the demand, which was quite the feat considering that food was Anzio's domain.

"Don't hold back…" Fernando repeated as he set down another plate of lasagna for Erich to start on. "Don't hold back…" He was sweating as he slowly started to let some panic set in because of the situation before his eyes: never in any possibility considered did he predict someone's appetite could threaten to clean out the entire school's pantries in one fell swoop. It was simply too improbable for him to take into account at the time.

Only when he realized that the plate he currently held, a dish of mashed potatoes with some very thin slices of pizza cooked in a brick oven, was the very last dish of food available to him. The one who delivered it to the Italian boy scampered away in fear of their wildest nightmare coming true: Anzio running out of food.

Fernando seemed to pick up on this, and after setting the dish down to the side he chose to step in to prevent that nightmare from surfacing. "Please hold back!" he yelled at Erich with the insistence that he stop eating at that very moment.

"Mm?" was the blonde's response as he looked over to the chef and raised an eyebrow in confusion. His mouth was full as he had just shoved a forkful of food in there, not even having the time to remove the fork before freezing up due to Fernando's outburst.

" _Dannazione…_ " both Franco and Anchovy muttered in amazement from their seats at the commanders' table. Their thoughts were full of stunned amazement at seeing Erich being able to bring Fernando down to begging him to stop eating to relieve the strain on his abilities to make food, both fully knowing that the light brunette Italian was exceptionally talented with kitchen duty and always happy to cook up more.

Miho simply smiled her practically trademarked awkward grin and gingerly removed the fork out of the blond-haired ultra-ace's mouth. " _Nicht mehr essen,_ " she leaned close to whisper into his ear with her sweetest voice. " _Verstehen?_ "

Erich heard her words commanding to not eat anymore as clear as crystal, but the insistence in her voice when she asked him if he understood was able to sway him to obey with a small, begrudging nod of his head. While he loved to do what he wanted, at the same time he simply could not be compelled to say no to the kind and ultra-sweet light brunette girl. ' _Oh, damn her and her wiles,_ ' he mentally cursed the weakness he had to her.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	101. Kapitel 19,1,20

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwanzig: Held der Zeitalter_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The near-constant flashing of cameras and the equally-incessant amount of gossiping were the only things Erich bothered to even acknowledge at the moment.

No. He was not at a fashion show, and he was _certainly_ not there by his own will. He refused to even think such thoughts that even remotely considered he was at all enjoying being, in his words, 'held captive' at an Anzio fashion show that the Italians were gracious enough to invite Ooarai's student body to.

No. Such thoughts were absurd, ridiculous, _unfathomable._

That was the common consensus within the mind of Erich-Dietrich Hartmann, who was sitting beside Miho Nishizumi with an eternal pout bestowed on his face and arms crossed like a grumpy child. He purposely chose to remain in his casual attire of black pants, white shirt, and black _Luftwaffe_ jacket as an act of defiance against the light brunette girl that batted her eyelashes and spoke in that way that always caused him to bend to her every whim, including the present whim of attending the Italian fashion show alongside her.

' _Lucky bastards, Anton, Herz, Nathan, and David all are,_ ' the blond-haired ultra-ace broodingly thought of his friends that were spared from being dragged with him. ' _At least_ _ **they**_ _don't have any special girls that'll use every trick in their book to convince them to do something that they absolutely do_ _ **not**_ _want to be within a kilometer's radius of._ ' Erich soon remembered, though, that Anton absolutely _prided_ himself on trying to be a ladies' man, and amended his thought. ' _At least, not_ _ **yet.**_ '

From her seat beside him, Miho could sense the foulness of her _Freund's_ thoughts, and shot a sidelong glance at him that conveyed the all-too-often repeated message of 'oh, grow up' in response to his behavior. Unlike the blonde, Miho chose to at least freshen herself up a little bit for the fashion show she had mercilessly convinced him to accompany her on and wore a fresh Ooarai school uniform.

The light brunette had at least hoped before that Erich could _try_ to be civil for her sake and not raise a fuss about going with her to a fashion show, but hindsight showed that was far too much to ask from him.

So she let that go for now and turned to her right to strike up a conversation with Anchovy, who was in her Anzio school uniform accompanied by her black mantle. "Wow, you guys really put on a great show!" she commented, genuinely into the show.

"Well, we like to take pride in our tastes!" Anchovy proudly responded while also keeping an eye on the show. At the moment, the stage was occupied by a handful of girls wearing some unconventional, custom outfits created by the fashion department of the school, most of which were multipiece outfits. "Because we stage these fashion shows regularly, our models have really honed down their technique, and the fashion department never disappoints with their creations!"

"Haha, I can see that!" Miho laughed a bit in response, agreeing that the outfits were not disappointing in the least. "I always had the impression that you all had very sharp senses of fashion!"

"But of course!" Franco interjected from Anchovy's right. Unlike Erich, Franco actually held an interest in the show, mostly because it was his school putting it on, and also unlike the resident blond-haired ultra-ace, he had kept a lid on his attitude, which came in handy while hosting Ooarai's students over. It kept him from bragging about Anzio more than would be considered appropriate from him.

The attention of Anchovy and Franco was soon drawn over to someone else who was coming on-stage from the backstage area. " _Eh?_ " Anchovy raised an eyebrow in confusion. She then squinted a bit and better identified the new arrival. "Oh, it seems like there's a guest from Ooarai participating, too."

"Wait, what?" Miho sat up slightly, now on alert. She had not expected anyone from her school to participate, so she was completely lost as to what was going down.

At the same time, the unexpected appearance of an Ooarai student in the show gave a reason for Erich to start paying attention to the show. He sat up in his seat and started actively looking out for anyone he recognized being from Ooarai.

"Wait, Yukari?!" Miho identified with a massive shock jolting her up to her feet.

Indeed, it was Yukari Akiyama that was the guest in the show, and her outfit definitely fit the unconventional theme of the show. The outfit was also the same reason Miho had such a shock upon sight of Yukari, considering it was the Anglerfish costume, made infamous for its association with the Anglerfish dance.

"Whoa, now this just got interesting!" Erich observed as he grew a grin. He had also stood up to get a better look, now genuinely into the show because of the hilarious-to-him irony. He knew that his light brunette girlfriend had certain _issues_ of hers triggered by her experience with the Anglerfish dance, and he relished the opportunity that she was rendered sputtering and unable to think coherently because of that trigger. The irony was sealed up by her insistence that both of them go to the show, making a very in-depth package of the most ironic of ironies.

"Whoa!" many of Anzio's students stood up to give applause. They were quite impressed by Yukari and giving her a great applause for the outfit and the performance. "So new!"

"Wait, why is that getting a standing ovation?!" Miho questioned in bewilderment when she noticed the applause her loader was getting.

"I need to record this!" Erich determined with a grin as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Upon hearing her _Freund's_ words, Miho wheeled around to face Erich directly, but she stopped when a thought struck her, and she locked gazes with the blond-haired boy. She just realized that fate was apparently fucking with her without mercy. After all, that was the only possible explanation as to why she felt like _she_ was duped by dragging Erich to a fashion show, when she had thought beforehand that it would be _him_ feeling that way.

Erich grew a shit-eating smile in response to Miho's attempt to melt him down with her eyes. "Maybe we should attend more of these, huh?" the blonde proposed. "I think I'm starting to like these things."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	102. Kapitel 19,1,21

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Einundzwanzig: Bestätigung_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

" _Ja! Endlich!_ " Miho cried out as she clenched her fists in excitement, after removing them from a control panel first. She had an immensely large smile on her face, conveying that she was _very_ giddy.

She was at an arcade aboard the _Zuikaku_ with her friends, who were mostly off doing their own things throughout the building. They were at the very same arcade that Ooarai's _Jägermeistern Staffel_ liked to frequent, hence its quite large size for a simple arcade due to the boys' own selfish desires. The light brunette was occupied with one of those crane games filled with stuffed animals that are seemingly impossible to win at, but against those odds, she had managed to overcome the challenge and snagged herself a prize.

"Finally, I got the one I wanted…" Miho sighed in contentment as she clutched her prize to her chest. The prize she won was a rather obscure variant of a Boko bear. Details that stood out about it were its bandaged midsection, a slash along one of its cheeks, and a four-pointed star on its face that used one of its eyes as the star's center point. Besides those, the stuffed bear was practically flawless in appearance, a rarity for Boko bears since most of them are often styled to be heavily injured almost everywhere.

Standing to the side was Yukari, who looked on at her friend still clutching her prize against her chest like how a little girl would hug their teddy bear. "… Uh, good for you, Lady Nishizumi!" she rushed out upon realizing she should probably say something to dispel the awkwardness. The messy-haired tank guru was lost as to why Miho so treasured those odd stuffed bears, but she chose not to speak of that for fear of insulting the light brunette _Panzer_ ace.

Though, thankfully for her, she didn't have to. Something else drew her attention away from that.

"Huh?" she wondered with a raised eyebrow after catching sight of something odd.

Over by some of the other game machines, Yukari had spotted a lone boy wearing some summer clothing, particularly some shorts and a white t-shirt rounded out with some flip-flops. Said boy was occupied with playing a game. He had a tan to his skin along with some hair as black as midnight, not to mention a body that was noticeably toned.

' _That guy looks Italian, so is he from Anzio, possibly?_ ' Yukari debated within her head as she continued watching. The supposedly Italian boy took no notice as he kept his focus on the game. ' _No, there's no way. But even so, why do I have this nagging feeling that he's somehow familiar to me?_ '

The supposed Italian drew his face into an imperceptible expression as he increased his focus to the game he was playing, and rightfully so, considering the game was the popular _Kriegsdonner,_ which demanded intense focus since it was all about fighter combat. Fighter combat requires an innate sense of focus and the ability to change that focus rapidly, considering that not only does the pilot have to fly, but they also have to shoot, look for targets, remain wary of their own tactical situation, navigate, communicate with others, and, if they're a flight leader, they also have to command other pilots. To simplify, being a fighter pilot is not easy.

But the mystery player was also not alone in playing the game. He was in a fight against the one and only Erich-Dietrich Hartmann. Suffice to say that Erich was giving his opponent a huge challenge. In fact, it was almost an unfair one considering just how big the skill gap between the two was, what with Erich being an actual fighter pilot for at least a decade thus far.

' _Well, I'd hate to bring embarrassment on myself if I was proven wrong and he_ _ **wasn't**_ _from Anzio…_ ' Yukari ended her mental debate with, choosing to not act on her instinct of accusing the new guy as a threat.

Soon enough, the digital game of aerial combat came to an end, and the new guy slammed his fist down on the machine in frustration. " _Dannazione!_ " he cursed in Italian, evidently having lost.

" _Sieg!_ " Erich celebrated simultaneously as he twirled around on his stool with a fist raised high in a victorious manner.

' _Oh, so he really_ _ **is**_ _from Anzio!_ ' Yukari thought to herself while still observing from afar. She was pleasantly surprised to find her original belief become vindicated by the curse the Italian had let loose. ' _Only those from Anzio would react so passionately to anything!_ '

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	103. Kapitel 19,1,22

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs_**

 ** _Kapitel Zweiundzwanzig: Vorschau - Katzen! Und Hexen?!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"So, then I said, 'Well what's the worst that could happen?'" Anton busied himself with relaying another amusing tale of his. He and the rest of his closest of friends – that being Erich, Nathan, Herz, and David – were all on the way to their school for yet another day of education. The usual suspects of being constantly half-asleep each morning, Erich and David, were surprisingly not being dragged along as was the norm for the pair. They were not as sleepy as they normally were that morning. They even actually looked decently presentable in their school outfits, a rarity.

"Let me guess," Erich hazarded to guess what happened next. "Murphy socked you a good one."

"You're damn right!" Anton proudly confirmed with a smirk to match, despite everyone else snickering at him. "I swear, I'm Murphy's favorite client judging by how often he's present for me."

"Well you can book appointments with him for life if you really want it, because I'm not fond of his method of business," the blond-haired German ultra-ace in the group retorted. The entire group save for David was wearing humored grins at the ongoing sarcastic banter between _Bubi_ and the blonde American.

Ever typical of him, David was instead wearing an impassive face and looking ahead of the pack. Though he soon had to blink and rub his eyes, for he caught sight of something that was honestly somewhat disturbing. "Uh, guys?" he tried with wide eyes. "Incoming."

"'Incoming,' what does that even-?" Nathan began to question, but he and all the others were stopped dead in their tracks, literally in the case of Erich. A sharp meow was all the warning given before a blur of light brown mixed with the white and green of an Ooarai uniform rushed the blond-haired ultra-ace and tackled him to the ground.

"Oof!" was all Erich could get out before he was getting licked all over his face with vigor. "Ah-hey! Hey, calm down!"

The other four stood there in a stunned silence for a bit before Anton voiced everyone's thoughts for them, "What the hell?"

They were in a state of shock because whatever it was that jumped Erich was quite feline in nature, though it was the size of a normal human and had a mixed anatomy of both a feline and a human, female to be specific, explaining why 'she' was bizarrely wearing an Ooarai girls' school uniform. That was also why she featured relatively short light brown hair with a pair of ears atop her head, particularly the ears of a lynx.

Erich finally got her to stop giving him the cat equivalents of kisses and backed her face up a bit so he could get a look at what jumped him so eagerly. Her face also held some typical feline features like whiskers and a cat-like mouth and nose, though the humanness of the face structure was kept intact. Her eyes, highly reflective and light brown in color, gave Erich a start as he recognized them, and therefore the identity of who just jumped him.

"… _Miho?_ " he asked with an extremely puzzled look, clearly in disbelief that the lynx-like female on top of him was his closest companion.

Miho, who for some reason was now a hybrid between a lynx and a human female, meowed in approval and curled up atop Erich with her paw-like hands and feet, purring into his neck as she calmed from her burst of energy and reconnected with her companion. Her tail was curled up as well, though it was not particularly long or noticeable due to her being part lynx.

A few more meows and chirrups beckoned the attention of everyone there, and the shell-shocked boys that were left standing looked over to find more girls that were like Miho in general appearance.

"… Oh, you've gotta be kidding me…" Herz spoke out, finally swayed out of his normal air of order and calm at the sight before him and the subsequent realization that something was definitely up.

The new cat-female hybrids were only four in number, but they were recognizable enough now to deduce their identities: Saori, Hana, Yukari, and Mako. Saori was her usual self mixed with a cougar's features, Hana mostly resembled a leopard, and Yukari had the features of a serval. Mako, who got bored and gracefully curled up to sleep on the ground, held the features of a panther.

While the other four boys of the group just stood there with the three conscious cat-girls sauntering around them, Erich did not even have the luxury of standing as the lynx-like Miho stayed put curled up atop him. She was clearly in the mood to cuddle, and the blond-haired ultra-ace chose to let her have her way. He so did not want to find himself on the receiving end of those claws, or worse, the fang-like teeth that the light brunette girl now possessed.

The other four boys soon grew accustomed to the cat-girls to let down their guard just enough to not appear obviously discomforted. From that, they were able to take notice of a more sensual kind of purring from Miho as she grew a hungry look in her eyes, and not the kind of hungry that would require her fangs to tear apart prey.

"You know, taking the biological uniqueness of them into account, I'm honestly quite curious as to how these kinds of creatures function," Anton chose to comment, sounding genuinely curious. Then he ruined it with his next comment. " _Bubi,_ considering that your little pet-slash-girlfriend is seemingly in the mood for fornicating, how about you delve into it and see what's different about it now?"

The other three guys with Anton groaned in annoyance at the comment. David went a step farther and smacked him upside the head.

"Ow!" the blonde American grappled with the back of his head to stem the pain. "It was a genuine curiosity!" With the exception of Miho, all of the feline-girl hybrids, including the just-awakened Mako, started growling threateningly at him. He raised his hands in surrender when he got the message. "Okay, okay, I'll shut up."

While not necessarily offended by it, Miho still overheard the shrewd comment, and to demonstrate that she was still able to understand human speech perfectly despite not being capable of it herself, her face flushed red in embarrassment as she curled up into her insinuated mate's chest. Erich noticed and instinctively petted her head, which released a contented purr from the lynx-girl. ' _Well at least her personality hasn't changed,_ ' the blond-haired ultra-ace silently praised the powers that be with the carry-over of personality, thankful for some sense of familiarity with Miho's present lynx-girl form.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile in the student council office, things were not _in Ordnung,_ to say the least.

" _Kruzifix!_ " both Pfirsich and Zitrus cried foul with their archaic-sounding Bavarian curse and sprinted out of the area. They decided that they could not bear to stand in the presence of something so foreign to them and made to book it out of the room.

A few meows and chirrups broke the following silence in the office, courtesy of a relatively short girl that held a great resemblance to a caracal. The amused smirk that crossed the feline-human face was one that only Anzu was capable of. The caracal-girl finished off her series of meowing, oddly sounding like a statement, by munching on a dried sweet potato, leaving no doubt that was Anzu.

Aprikose, who was sitting on a chair behind the desk in the office with the caracal-like Anzu curled up against him, nodded in response to her series of meowing, apparently in conversation with her despite her present inability of human speech.

"I agree," the Bavarian with a penchant for loafing responded with an amused grin. "Their response _was_ funny."

A growl came from beside the desk, one that was meant to be threatening to Aprikose, but he just waved it off nonchalantly as if it didn't matter. A very dangerous move, considering he had performed the gesture to Momo, the one person that should not be intentionally aggravated. Add to that her new state of being – that new state being a hybrid between her old self and a Bengal tiger – and Aprikose was effectively playing with fire.

XXXXXXXXXX

By one of the staircases within the school proper, the only sound discernible was meowing multiplied many times over. Such noises were relatively eager-sounding if their constant repetition said anything.

"Okay, okay, you can play with the ball," Matthias held his hands up placatedly, one of which had a football in it that he gently tossed to the source of noise making. A _real_ football, and not a glorified rugby ball as the Americans like to think is a real football.

Those that were the target of being subdued peacefully were none other than Ooarai's favorite six-strong group of freshmen girls. And like many of the school's other girls, they also underwent the changes in biological makeup to become feline-human hybrids. Azusa and Saki mostly resembled pumas, Karina and Aya bore the looks of cheetahs, and Ayumi and Yuuki both took the genes of Siberian tigers. And all of them were practically unchanged in their personalities, what with still being utter chatterboxes even if they no longer had any working voice boxes.

"… I am so getting the others back for leaving me to deal with this alone," Matthias muttered to himself as he watched the feline-girl crossovers play with his football, rolling it towards each other with the occasional batting of it. The _Wildcat_ pilot was the only one of his _Fußball_ -playing ilk to remain there, as the others had scrammed with haste as soon as they saw the Siberian tiger-girl hybrids of Ayumi and Yuuki.

XXXXXXXXXX

All across the globe, it seemed no one was spared from the strange phenomenon that occurred seemingly only to girls. Such was the case aboard the _HMS Ark Royal_ with Saint Gloriana.

The three usual girls that took up the turret positions in the Churchill Mk VII were no exceptions to the feline-girl hybridization, though that did not stop Darjeeling, who took after a lion in her case, from drinking tea like she would everyday with Orange Pekoe, now a Geoffroy's cat-girl, and Assam, now an ocelot-girl.

Darjeeling let out a series of meows like if she was actually talking, and knowing her, it was most likely about some saying she once heard. Orange Pekoe let out a single meow, as if identifying the original source of the supposed 'quote' of Darjeeling's on instinct.

But the British cat-girls were not alone. They were also in the vicinity of Arthur, Dennis, and Douglas. Both the Northern Irish boy and the Scottish boy were holding blank faces as they took in everything, while the Englishman Arthur had his typical relaxed grin in place, as if the situation did not faze him. Of course, all three had their own tea as well. They wouldn't be British if they _didn't_ drink tea so often.

"So tell me," Douglas began to speak amongst the boys, addressing only them. "What are we to do about whatever this is?"

"Well," Arthur began as he brought down his teacup to its saucer, still with the same relaxed grin. "I believe you are all aware of the saying, 'Curiosity killed the cat.'"

Dennis shot an inquisitive look toward Arthur, even though he fully understood the quote's meaning. Or rather, he understood the meaning the English Spitfire pilot had just given it. "I don't think Ben Jonson had that meaning in mind with those words," he opined. He was more curious about how Arthur was able to maintain such a calm and comfortable expression while effectively suggesting to cut down the cat-girls among them.

"Well, let's just hope there isn't enough satisfaction to bring them back," Douglas chose to agree with Arthur's thinking, finally allowing a small smirk to cross his face. "I need my pike."

XXXXXXXXXX

Simultaneously aboard the _Graf Zeppelin,_ Schwarzwaldspitze was bringing about their own method for resolving the biological abnormality. They too were affected by it, though their method for containing it was… _unconventional,_ to leave things simply.

Maho gave a foreboding growl of warning as she and Erika, who simultaneously growled and snarled much more aggressively, backed up slowly from multiple jets of flames that were not quite long enough to reach the two. Maho and Erika were among those that were changed into cat-girls. Maho had become a cross between her usual self and a panther, and Erika took up the features of a white tiger.

The flames ceased momentarily as the wielders of the flames chose to observe their targets. Alfred-Joachim Hartmann had a stone-cold face, betraying no emotion, though Hans Jochen looked more like a curious child. The ever-so-popular face that was bestowed on poster after poster was not expecting to become part of an extremely threatening riot control force when he went to head to the gym that morning.

" _Gottverdammt,_ I'm going to burn down the biology club next time one of their creations gets out of control like this," Alfred spoke up to nobody in particular, though his volume of voice still rung loud enough for everybody nearby to hear. "Considering that we still have to take care of that zombie problem they created, I think that I'm being _lenient._ " He then unleashed another stream of pure fire from his _Flammenwerfer_ 35, and the others equipped with _Flammenwerfer_ followed suit.

XXXXXXXXXX

Aboard the _Kiev,_ the case of cat-girl mutations was plenty prevalent, not least of which because two of Pravda's most well-known girls were among the affected. That did not, however, suit the agenda of one particular Engineer that day.

" _Suka blyad', ne priblizhaysya ko mne!_ " Sasha reacted in a berserker manner, frightened enough to devolve into Russian and frantically running away from the new but questionably improved versions of Katyusha and Nonna.

The tiny tank commander was sitting atop the shoulders of the tall elegant sharpshooter as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, but that was simply not true upon just looking at their appearances. Katyusha now held a great resemblance to a Siberian lynx, and Nonna became mixed together with a snow leopard.

Nudelmann was among the two feline-girls, but he was obviously not one of them biologically speaking. Unlike Sasha, however, he was actually fond of the two Russian girls' new forms.

"Aw, you're such a cute _kotenok,_ " the tall Russian ace uncharacteristically fawned over Katyusha, to which the Siberian lynx-girl shied away from his gaze yet still gave a cute mewl of gratitude. Nonna interjected with a calm yet weighted series of meows, to which Nudelmann gave an eye-roll to. "Oh, please, Nonna. You're too tall to be considered cute."

Any further 'conversation' was brought to a halt when a bear's roar was heard, making the three Russians freeze up in terror.

" _Vot der'mo,_ " Nudemann muttered a curse. He then snapped his gaze to the two wide-eyed feline-girls. "Run!"

The two feline-girls wasted no time in obeying as Nonna took off into a sprint, Katyusha hanging on for dear life. Nudelmann followed as well, because there was no way in hell that he was taking on a bear, even if he was Russian.

"Faster, Volodya!" Sasha barked as he rode against the rushing wind. "We must not let ourselves be taken over by those monsters!" Sasha was riding atop the bear like its master, which, for the record, he was, hence why the bear was named. That was Sasha's pet bear, because Russia.

XXXXXXXXXX

Though not quite as affected, Anzio still noticed the difference among the girls. Thankfully the _Aquila_ had enough resources to provide the remaining students the power to keep the feline-girls that were aboard calm and content.

"That's it, Anchovy," Franco nodded in approval with a smile on his face when he saw Anchovy, who now resembled an oncilla, calmly eating and savoring the pasta she was served. She actually ate at a table, though she still chose to eat with her mouth mostly due to the paws, a very odd mixture of human and cat behavior. "You're such a good _gatta._ If you eat that all up, then I'll get you that mouse toy you like so much."

Anzio quickly came to the conclusion that giving the cat-girls food was worth a try if it had a chance of reeling them in. Such a tactic worked wonderfully thanks to the abundance of highly skilled chefs aboard the _Aquila._ If their damn spanking delicious food wasn't the solution, then they were damned to hell for all eternity.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back aboard the _Zuikaku,_ even though Ooarai High School was plagued with cat-girls, a practice fight amongst the _Panzers_ was still able to go on nevertheless. That was why all of Ooarai's _Panzers_ were scouring the practice grounds at the moment, and why all of the feline-girl hybrids on the team wore their appropriate combat uniforms

But the battle soon changed due to Miho's instincts telling her that something was up, and it wasn't about anything to do with her new form. She grew the strange feeling that they were not the only ones out there in the forest. It was a feeling she could actually sense, and it felt to her like one that was very dense with energy, though her mind interpreted that to mean hostile.

The lynx-girl sent out a series of meows and chirrups to her crew, sounding just like the commander she is regardless of her inability to speak. With the commands, the _Panzer_ IV H aimed its 7,5 cm KwK 40 L/48 cannon into the abundance of trees, and Hana fired the shot with impeccable accuracy as the _Sprenggranate_ 34 high-explosive shell threaded its way between the trees and to its target about 300 meters away.

But despite that accuracy, the shell found itself eaten up by a blue circular shield of pure energy that featured a number of runes around its rim and within. Thanks to the shield being made of pure energy, it was quite transparent, and behind it was a girl holding her hand out as if it held up the shield. The force of the blast violently pushed her back. The jerk of being knocked back made her lose focus as she grunted from the impact, and the shield dropped. Another girl reached out and grabbed her, pulling her behind a tree to buy them both a brief reprieve.

The girl that deployed the shield had relatively short hair styled into a bob, or a _Bubischnitt_ to be exact. Though the hair was overall blonde, two of the lowest-hanging locks that hung down ahead of her ears had tips that were black. She also had blue eyes that were full of life. Her body suggested she was a teenager, and it was fully developed with all the curves one would expect of a girl that age, though nothing to instantly make tents in boys' pants. She also, for some reason, had a tail, specifically a black tail from a Dachshund. Overall, she had a rather fun-loving demeanor.

Her outfit consisted of a white skirt and a white shirt covered by a black _Luftwaffe_ jacket rounded out with black combat boots. The jacket was purposely left open due to personal preference, and a glinting silver knife with the blade down and hilt up was also stitched into the jacket, occupying a large portion of the backside.

" _Scheiß!_ " she so blatantly cursed at the situation presented before both girls and completely forgoing being lady-like, even in the least bit. They were being harassed by machine gun fire thanks to the _Panzer_ IV's coaxial MG 34.

"This reminds me of Kursk more than I would like," the other girl noted about the scenario as she quickly scanned the environment with sharp and calculating brown eyes. This girl looked almost identical to the other, the only major differences in physical appearance being hair and eye color. She had her hair styled the same way, but unlike the blonde, her hair was black, and the black tips on the blonde's pair of locks were instead cream in color for the brunette. She was also somewhat taller than the blonde, but her body held the same proportions to its curves. She had the same Dachshund tail as the blonde, but hers was cream in color. This brunette had a much more serious air around her than the blonde did. Both appeared distinctly German, and it could be easily inferred that they were related somehow just judging by their appearances.

The brunette had a much different outfit. It consisted of a dark red skirt and a shirt of the same color covered by a black jacket. This jacket had red accents and a small Iron Cross on each side of the collar, and on one shoulder was a shoulder patch that depicted the German black, red, and gold tricolor. It held significant similarities to a _Luftwaffe_ trench coat, the only major difference being its much shorter length that was more comparable to a normal jacket. Though, like the blonde, the brunette also liked to leave her jacket open.

"Isabel, this really isn't the time to reminisce on the past!" the blonde asserted as she glanced at the enemy _Panzer_ IV from behind the tree she shared with the brunette as cover. "Plus, I don't know how you could possibly recall fond memories of that time!"

"I never even said I _had_ fond memories of that time, Erika!" Isabel-Justina Hartmann, the black-haired girl, sharply retorted. She then opened her eyes a bit wider as they flashed, and she started seeing the situation from an outside point of view, though the events she watched had not happened yet. Said events included a shot from the _Panzer_ IV's KwK 40 cannon, but Isabel mentally filed away exact circumstances surrounding the shell's point of impact, and she came back to the present and into her own perspective with another flash of her eyes. All of that happened as fast as light traveled, meaning she missed nothing during her brief stint of foreseeing the future.

"Move!" the black-haired girl cried out in desperation.

Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann did not fail her. The blonde almost instantly generated a whirlwind of air and used it to flash across the forest floor with Isabel, leaving a noticeable wake in their path from the intense winds. They moved in the nick of time as another _Sprenggranate_ impacted the tree they had just abandoned and obliterated it.

"I only brought up Kursk because I learned what I _should_ do after learning what _not_ to do back then!" Isabel carried on the previous conversation as she and Erika broke into a sprint across the ground, constantly breaking left and right in an effort to obscure the _Panzer_ IV's line of sight and hopefully escape.

"If we survive this, then you think we'll keep these powers we have now?" Erika nonchalantly asked, even though she had to periodically bring up a shield to deflect machine gun fire away from her.

"If we do, then let us hope Manfred and Michael don't freak out about it," Isabel distantly replied, also drawing up her own shield every now and again to deflect incoming fire. "Because this'll be utter hell to explain to them."

XXXXXXXXXX

In one particular room within the British campus of Selection University, Dziubek Skalski was sitting back in a large and comfortable leather recliner behind a great wooden desk. He also had the one and only Alice Shimada curled up against him on the chair, though she was noticeably different from before. She had also become one of the feline-girl mutations, though she was very tame by comparison. She had mixed with a domestic cat, and the accompanying cat-like features matched Alice's natural white hair color.

Alice purred contently as Dziubek absently petted her with a satisfied grin on his face. It looked very odd and perhaps frightening to certain people considering the Polish fighter ace now pulled off the Bond villain look almost flawlessly.

" _Słodki kotek,_ " Dziubek murmured affectionately, absolutely undeterred by such a sudden change, nor deterred by the worldwide situation with millions of cat-girl mutations. He cared not, for as long as he had his cute kitty _Alśka,_ then he simply gave no fucks to anything else.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Sasha:_ And now, Pravda's breathlessly exciting battle against Schwarzwaldspitze at Kursk, some random town in the middle of fucking nowhere-!

 _Nudelmann:_ -Is not starting. My Yakovlev wishes to continue overheating and blowing seals, so I need you to fix it, Mister Engineer.

 _Chuck:_ Hold it! Hold the fucking phone! I thought this number was supposed to be _our_ feature?!

 _Franco:_ Hey, shut it! Look around at what's been published thus far! It's so clear that Anzio should be the feature that it should've blinded you with its clarity! But why _aren't_ we the feature?!

 _Chuck & Franco:_ What the fuck is this shit, _Bubi?!_

 _Erich:_ Whoa, chill out. I'm not the one to complain to…

 _Erika-D. H.:_ Though I must say, I really like the idea with the swimsuits. Hey, maybe we can set up a swimsuit photoshoot! I mean, I'm all ready to go with mine now! Speaking of which, how do I look?

 _Erich:_ Like a witch.

 _Erika-D. H.:_ Oh, so you think you're funny? _Please…_ Not even _I_ found that funny.

 _Erich:_ ... You _do_ realize that you insulted the _both_ of us in one fell swoop, right?

 _Erika-D. H.:_ I'm fully aware of that. Not like I care, though.

 _Arthur:_ Well, the party might've already kicked off here, judging by the number of people in swimwear, but please everyone, I do implore that you all look forward to 'Third Battle of El Alamein: The Fight Between Saint Gloriana and Schwarzwaldspitze!'

 _Dennis:_ Hey, you shut the bloody hell up, mate! There's no way any of us are willing to relive getting stomped into the ground by those bloody Germans!

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	104. Kapitel 19,2,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-zwei: Herumalbern am Set!_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Affen Herum!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

With a white drop behind their backs and with a flash, the entirety of the _Anglerfish_ crew was photographed together along with a certain blond-haired fighter ace and his closest comrades. All wore their standard combat uniforms, and all appeared in a great rush, as if spiked on by a great emergency. Only two people on set were the exception: Mako, David, and Erich, the former two having adopted looks of nonchalance even with everything else flying around them, and the ultra-ace being unconscious in the arms of Miho, who held _Bubi_ close with one arm while wielding a Mauser M712 _Schnellfeuer_ with her other arm.

They all presented a textbook scene of chaos, such that it would not be surprising to find that particular picture on an online encyclopedia article about the concept of chaos. The rest of the girls besides the aforementioned Mako held extreme poses to make themselves seem to be sprinting at a very brisk pace while simultaneously keeping an eye out for hostiles. All of the boys held various weapons that appeared to have been hastily brought up to a firing position, giving the impression that they were being forced to fire on the move due to an imminent sense of danger. Anton wielded a _Maschinenpistole_ 40, Herz had the _Fallschirmjägergewehr_ 42, Nathan had the _Luftwaffe's_ M30 _Drilling,_ and David used a _Sturmgewehr_ 44, which was somewhat humorous given his lack of expression that stood in stark contrast to everyone else with a weapon.

Everyone on the set soon heard a distinguished clapping sound, somewhat in between a slow clap and an applauding clap, and the set cast took that as their cue to break character as they gradually fell out of their scene and identified the source.

"Good job, very nice!" Captain Ami Chouno gave her congratulations to the cast upon stepping forward ahead of all the coordinators and directors. She was adorned in her formal uniform, a dark green in color. "Keep this up and we'll have quite the library of photos to use!"

Miho awkwardly chuckled in her usual manner before responding, "Thanks. I was actually really nervous about this…" A light blush adored her cheeks, due to her ever-lasting shyness. It was _not_ because she still had Erich pressed against her, his head practically rested on her assets like they were a pillow. At least, that was what she told herself.

"That was still quite the scene!" Ami continued to praise Miho, seemingly more energetic and peppy than usual, which seemingly sounded like something that was pretty hard to do due to the very unique first impression she gave off with her Type 10 main battle tank the first time she met the Ooarai folks. "We'll add all of the explosions and tracer fire in CGI, and then we'll sent it out on a poster to capture everyone's attention onto the Arts of Warfare! This is gonna be big news!"

"What were we even supposed to be fighting in that picture, anyways?" David wondered. All of those with weapons had let them be taken back by the producers, as they were props that belonged to the studio. As such, the cast was left to standing around and talking, either with each other or others.

"Aliens," Mako deadpanned an answer out. "It's always aliens."

"Oh, you want to bet on this?" Anton chose to butt in with a competitive flare in his eyes. One of his hands had already started digging around his pants for his wallet. "I'll set down ten bucks for zombies!"

"You're on, American," Mako slapped her bet down in monetary form to make her guess of aliens official.

"I'm putting in ten for a modern-day battle against terrorists," Herz inserted his piece into the growing betting pool.

"Hey, let me get in on this!" Nathan made to enter as well into the betting pool. "Commando raid gone south!"

"You've got to be an idiot to believe it's anything besides a pilot rescue behind enemy lines!" Yukari joined in and placed her own bet down.

"Oh, my…" Saori looked on at everything with a slight giggle in her voice, clearly amused by the impromptu lottery her friends all created. She was preoccupied with wiping her face down to remove her makeup. She got a glance of Hana out of the corner of her eye still struck up in her pose for the picture for some odd reason. Nevertheless, she chose to handle it with a friendly calmness she always displayed. "Hana, they've already taken the picture, so you don't need to stay like that anymore."

Back with Miho, things had not really changed from before.

"Hey, _Bubi?_ " Miho asked Erich, still against her chest, with a gentle, soothing voice, as if trying to wake him from a slumber. " _Bubi…_ You can get off me now, the picture's been taken already."

Erich chose to snuggle closer into the light brunette's assets, and he let out a satisfied sigh. His head was rested directly on her rack, and his hands were not too far off, having taken residence a little higher up at Miho's shoulders. "So soft," the blonde muttered, evidently pleased as he rubbed his face against her cleavage.

Miho's brain chose to stop working for a bit, its last order being to make her face blush deeper and stare down at Erich while looking completely lost as to what was happening.

"Oh, that's fantastic!" Ami declared when she caught sight of the two German commanders of Ooarai and their unique positions. "That's a picture I won't miss pass up taking!" She quickly brought up a handheld camera and started shooting a lot of quick snaps aimed at both Miho and Erich.

It seemed that was what was needed to snap the light brunette _Panzer_ ace out of her stupor as she looked to Ami with a totally-caught-off-guard look on her face. "Wha…?!" was all she could say.

"You'd be surprised to know that there's a huge market for photos like this!" Ami revealed as she continued snapping pictures relentlessly of the German pair of aces. "Now bring him closer to you!"

"Just what kind of market even _cares,_ let alone _that_ much…?" Miho muttered with a more resigned attitude now, knowing she wouldn't get out of her situation. Not only did she have Ami repeatedly blinding her with her camera's flash, but Erich chose to fulfill Ami's suggestion for Miho himself, via his closer cuddling of her cleavage.

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time later, Ami finally left the Ooarai folks alone. After all, they were not the only school there that day.

There was also an entourage from Pravda in the studio. The attendees for the Russian photoshoot included the usual suspects: Katyusha, Sasha, Nonna, and Nudelmann. All wore their standard combat uniforms except for Katyusha. The diminutive Russian tanker had forgone the traditional Soviet tanker jumpsuit and associated tanker cap that she usually preferred, instead wearing the usual Pravda tanker getup of a dark green skirt and a long-sleeve shirt of the same shade with a red Russian cross on the left-hand side of the collar, the latter article of which covered a red shirt underneath.

But another was also granted attendance, solely because Sasha adamantly refused to take part in the shoot if the fifth attendee was not allowed, and he was, somewhat reluctantly, backed up by the other Russians. The special case was Volodya, Sasha's pet bear.

"All right!" Ami spoke up in her loud voice with her camera in hand. "You guys are already making me feel excited for this shoot! Let's get the first one!"

Ami snapped the first photo when given the go-ahead. It was honestly something to be expected out of Pravda: Katyusha was standing in a heroic pose with her arm stretched out and pointing off in the distance, while Nonna and Nudelmann crouched on either side of her, making sure to stay below the tiny Russian tanker's height level. Sasha was standing up behind Katyusha with arms crossed and a predatory smirk on his face. Volodya, the Russian bear, was seated on his rear behind everyone else and perfectly calm, despite being, obviously, a bear.

"Great!" Ami praised. "You're all looking good! Especially that bear! Now the next one!"

The next photo was taken with another touch of the trigger on Ami's camera. This one brought all four Russians close together, each surrounding Katyusha. Nonna and Nudelmann once again remained crouched down to her level, but they had relatively serene grins on their faces this time. Sasha was standing up still, but his arms were gently rested atop Katyusha's head and he had a more friendly face for the camera this time. Katyusha herself still tried remaining dominant-looking, but it was clear in her eyes that she was comfortable as well. Volodya was sent off set by Sasha beforehand due to the blonde Russian ace not seeing a need for the bear in any more photos. One was enough to satisfy the mechanic.

"Fantastic! That one really captured the unique relationship you all have!" Ami praised once more with even greater encouragement. "Now let's step up the game! Do more of what you please with these next ones!"

The next picture turned out to be quite amusing, as Nonna and Nudelmann chose to take the helm together and make the best of it, much to the chagrin of Sasha and Katyusha. The four Russians remained close, but they were rearranged into a new pose. Nonna had Katyusha rested on her hip like a small child, while she had her other arm pulling Sasha close to her other side. Nudelmann rounded it out with taking a spot behind Sasha and using his height to tower over him. One hand belonging to the Russian crack-shot was on the shorter blonde Russian ace's shoulder while the other was rested on Nonna's shoulder, such that everyone was practically ensnared within his arms. Overall, it looked much like a family photo, even down to the obvious discomfort on the children's faces, such roles having been taken on unwillingly by Katyusha and Sasha.

"Whoo-hoo!" Ami applauded, absolutely ecstatic with how things were turning out. "Go further! Express your relationship! Give me more!"

The four Russians next split off into pairs to do two different actions in the same frame, and both of those scenes were of a more romantic nature. Nudelmann brought himself and Nonna to the floor, with the former on top. Both of the sharpshooters were looking about ready to fuck each other's brains into a blaze of euphoria, not even seeming to care that they were on camera.

Simultaneously, Sasha held Katyusha close while he held a look saying he wished to absolutely devour the tiny Russian tanker, with the same connotations that the two taller Russians on the floor had more heavily suggested. Katyusha, however, grew increasingly restless out of nervousness as the blonde Russian ace craned his neck down in an attempt to close the gap between their lips.

Needless to say, Katyusha's nerves overwhelmed her and forced her to jump back out of Sasha's reach with her cheeks blazing red. "Stop! This is getting too weird for me!" she blurted out, unable to take any more.

Sasha gave off an exasperated sigh, but made no attempt to get back in striking distance of the diminutive Russian tanker. "I hope you're not going for a career as an actor," he said with an expression displaying that he had somewhat expected the scene to unfold like it did, but was nevertheless disappointed still. "Because you're horrible at maintaining your role."

"Eh?" Ami wondered, utterly lost as to why Katyusha broke character. She shook her head after a few seconds and turned her attention to Nonna and Nudelmann. Both of the Russian sharpshooters were clearly dedicated to their roles, having both managed to rip apart each other's clothing with their only objectives being to fuck each other senseless. "… Okay, now that's too much."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Anyway, moving on from _that_ detour," Ami spoke up later to the entire studio after resolving the prior 'incident' with the Russians. That meant that Ami was in a fantastically great mood once more. "I also called up the Americans from Saunders to join us!"

"Heeeeey!" Kay greeted everyone in the way only an American could: loud and boisterous, but with a genuinely friendly wave as she walked into the area with a sizable entourage. With her were her two lieutenants, Alisa and Naomi, along with the big three for Saunders' _Jägermeistern_ program: Chuck, Ray, and Christian. All wore the usual combat outfits for their respective branch.

"Yo, I heard y'all were having a photoshoot!" Chuck spoke up with an enthusiastic smile. Only the two captains were in such a cheery state. The other four Americans were relatively quiet and distant, preferring to observe rather than talk.

"You heard right," Ami confirmed for the Americans. "I've got plenty of ideas for you all to try out!"

"Okay!" Kay cheered with a fist pump. She then moved to grab her shirt bottom. "So, are we stripping?"

"Hey, what the hell, Kay?!" Alisa sprung into action upon seeing Kay begin to strip down. She grabbed her captain's hands and stopped her from removing her shirt. Ray immediately looked away when Kay suggested stripping, and Christian and Naomi held no particular reaction to the attempted strip-down. The two American sharpshooters were relatively used to crazy shit happening wherever Kay was involved.

"Oh, come on!" Kay began to reason, having been convinced to stay clothed for the moment but not intending to remain as such. "You _know_ that we're gonna be doing stuff like this anyway! It's tradition!"

"What kind of tradition says to strip down for a picture?!" Alisa asked in an incredulous manner.

"Pin-ups," Christian inserted his piece into the conversation in a matter-of-fact manner.

Ray tried to smack him, but the American crack-shot ace quickly leaned away from the incoming attack to avoid. "Hey, shut it!" the night fighter pilot insisted. "Last thing we need is to give her ideas!"

"Well, hey, it _is_ era-appropriate," Christian retorted with an amused grin. Indeed, the idea was historically appropriate, considering the vast amount of pin-up shots on American aircraft over the decades, beginning with the World War Two era. Ray scowled at the crack pilot, but was forced to accept a historical fact.

"So, are we doing this or what?" Chuck asked around with his ever-lasting enthusiastic smile. He was totally not bothered by the idea of shooting pin-up shots. "'Cause I've got a P-38 to use as a set piece if you need it."

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Ami had snapped the photo so desired by Kay. It was, of course, a pin-up shot, starring all three of the American girls in their bikinis lying at rest on various parts of a completely bare P-38K-1, mostly around the center by the canopy. Kay took it upon herself to strike an intentionally sexy pose, while Naomi and Alisa didn't care as much to partake in that endeavor and simply looked at the camera with rather bored expressions.

The three American pilots were also in the photo, but they took on background roles to make the shot seem more centered around the girls. Each of them were dressed in coveralls and playing the roles of mechanics, meaning they had a number of tools on themselves. That also explained why the twin-engine fighter was disassembled in some areas, namely the nose, but also the engine covers.

"Well, that's one with emotion alright," Ami observed the picture she had just taken with a pleased look.

"Would you look at that," Erich observed the Americans with arms crossed from beside Miho. The folks from Ooarai were simply bored with not having anything to do, so they elected to see what the set was currently like. "The _Ami_ are still such _Angeber._ "

"Well, did you honestly expect anything less out of them?" Miho asked with a side-glance aimed at the blond-haired ultra-ace along with an up-twitch of her lips. "They are, and always will be, complete show-offs."

"I agree, it seems that the Yanks have absolutely no integrity," the Ooarai folks heard a distinct English accent from behind them. They all turned to try and find out who it was.

"Oh, the fucking irony," Anton drawled out with displeasure upon identifying the new arrivals. " _Of course_ the folks from the country representative of displaying zero integrity would show up."

Those that arrived just then included the usual suspects from Saint Gloriana: Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, Assam, Douglas, Dennis, and Arthur, who had spoken up to announce their presence. The girls each wore swimsuits while the guys remained clothed in their school's _Jägermeistern_ outfits. Both Darjeeling and Orange Pekoe had gone with one-piece swimsuits while Assam, like the Americans, went with a two-piece bikini. And since they were British, all of them had a cup of tea with them.

"And a good day to you lot," Arthur returned unfazed and undeterred by Anton's snipe at him and his countrymen. Dennis and Douglas gave each other knowing looks, silently reaffirming their common understanding that Arthur and Darjeeling were big enough assholes to deserve that jab.

"How do you do, everyone?" Darjeeling greeted everyone with her usual grace after taking a sip from her tea. "Might you be aware of this saying? 'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'"

"Emerson said that one," Orange Pekoe instinctively supplied from her place beside her commander.

"Anywho," Erich rolled his eyes at the usual behavior of the British. "What are you all even doing here?"

"Ah, yes!" Darjeeling brightened up considerably at the blond-haired German's prompt. "I heard you lot were having a swimsuit photoshoot!"

"Whoa, wait, there's no way that I'd-" Miho intervened to try and avoid Darjeeling's idea as much as she could, but she was cut off.

"Swimsuit photoshoot, I'm liking the sound of that…" Ami held a finger to her chin thoughtfully as she grew a foreboding smile.

"What?!" Miho's voice raised an octave or two in disbelief.

"That's it! Swimsuit photoshoot!" Ami eagerly proclaimed the next coming set. She was so hyped up about the idea that she even took two of the Ooarai girls into her arms to carry alongside her as she rushed off to prepare herself. Unfortunately for Miho, one of those girls was her, the other being Mako who had a look saying she could care less. "You girls hurry up and get changed! I'm joining the cast, too!"

" _Ugh, ich gebe keinen Scheiß mehr…_ " the light brunette _Panzer_ ace of Ooarai huffed out in defeat after being overruled. As she so eloquently verbalized in her native tongue, she was beyond the point of giving a shit anymore and just let herself go into an autopilot as her consciousness retreated to the safe havens of unawareness.

XXXXXXXXXX

Several days later, both Erich and Miho were walking to another day of school together. The blond-haired ultra-ace was looking at a photo in the meantime, an actual print photo.

The picture itself was a swimsuit shot, the very one Captain Chouno insisted on at the photoshoot some days ago. Those within the shot included the _Anglerfish_ crew in its entirety, Ami, and the three British girls from Saint Gloriana. Both Miho and Darjeeling were in the center crouched down, each having a hand pressed against the other's hand with Darjeeling having a cup of tea in the other. At the far left was Mako seated on the ground looking just as impassive as usual, accompanied by Yukari just behind her who gave a mock salute to the camera. Behind her was Assam who was standing fully, and just beside her was Orange Pekoe looking like she was trying to politely stay out of everyone's way. Beside the British ginger was Hana, looking as kind as always. To the far right in the back was Ami giving a thumbs-up, and just in front of the Captain was Saori with her hands on Miho's shoulders. All except for Mako and Orange Pekoe had varying degrees of smiles aimed at the camera.

"Yeah, Anton was definitely right on one thing: Darjeeling is totally shameless," Erich noted in observation of the shot. "No one else would take the center as slyly as she did and still have the gall to look completely innocent about it. Though I think I would now add _Hauptmann_ Chouno to that list, as well."

"Mmm-hmm," Miho made a sound of confirmation, but it was relatively distant in its tone. The light brunette _Panzer_ ace's mind was far away still from the photoshoot, the cause of which was her basically saying 'fuck it' and shutting down mentally when she heard she wasn't getting out of doing the swimsuit shot.

Erich cast a sidelong glance at her with a raised eyebrow, curious as to what she was thinking. He shook his head a few seconds later upon finding what he wanted to know. That is, that she wasn't thinking of _anything._ Turning back to the photo in his hand, the blonde grew the smallest of amused smirks when he thought back to the pandemonium of that photoshoot.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	105. Kapitel 19,2,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-zwei: Herumalbern am Set!_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau - Herkunft_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Weissach was a comparatively small town in the state of Baden-Württemberg within Germany. The town itself was not very special, what with having almost nothing of interest. Almost always, it was simply another town name on an _Ausfahrt_ sign along the _Autobahn,_ ignored as most people proceeded either eastwards towards Stuttgart, or westwards towards Pforzheim.

Weissach was nowhere near being special to most people, and had almost nothing interesting to put it on the map. _Almost._ Though few in number and very specific in their contents, Weissach did have two claims to fame.

The first was that the town's outskirts housed the research center of Porsche, the infamous German sports car maker. The center consisted of a number of buildings ranging from office buildings to a relatively small factory and even including a gift shop, but by and far the highlight of the complex was the test track. The driving playground was relatively modest in size, especially when compared to corporate boss Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien testing grounds, but when compared to Weissach's land area, the Porsche testing grounds occupied a massive chunk of the town. The size of the driving park said more about the town's small size than it did of its own.

Nevertheless, Weissach became a name known by car enthusiasts because of its association with Porsche. The name was first made known to auto engineers and the most dedicated of enthusiasts when Porsche introduced their 928, which incorporated a new rear suspension arrangement known as the Weissach axle. It was a design meant to eliminate lift-throttle oversteer by allowing the rear suspension to adjust itself during cornering.

A few decades later, the town's name became known to almost all enthusiasts that held some interest in Porsche, as the famed sports car builder had offered up a special option on specific car models that was known only as the Weissach package. It was offered on the 991.2 generation 911 GT2 RS, the most potent 911 model ever built excluding the late-90s 911 GT1 which was practically a Porsche 962 with a revised front end; as well as the 918 Spyder, the first of the hybrid supercars. The Weissach package took those cars to even greater extremes, by stripping down the cars of anything unnecessary and refining their performance further. Because of those efforts, both cars became the cream of the crop of performance cars.

They had both raised the bar even higher among the performance world when both had gone on to set record lap times on the Nürburgring Nordschleife race track, universally known to drivers as the toughest race track in the world and given the well-deserved nickname of The Green Hell. Nearly thirteen miles long and extremely demanding on both car and driver, the 918 Spyder with the Weissach package had managed to lap the circuit in six minutes and fifty-five seconds, which was a production car record at the time it was set. Later, Porsche again claimed the fastest record time for a production car when they took a 911 GT2 RS with the Weissach package and set a time of six minutes and forty-seven seconds. Though still far off from the all-time record lap time of six minutes and eleven seconds set by a Porsche 956 decades prior, none could say that these newest machines brought to life by the Weissach-based research center were slow.

But Weissach did have another claim to fame that did not involve cars. This claim involved the world of air combat. The small town was distinct as being the birth place of Erich Hartmann, the highest-scoring fighter pilot of all time.

And about a century later, Weissach had found itself with another claim to fame involving two of the _Luftwaffe_ ace's descendants. The small town had been luckily graced with the home of the Hartmann family, and the two newest daughters to that family were quite special, as they were sure to prove throughout their childhood. These two were prepared to take on the Arts of Warfare with the force of a furious storm, carrying the small rural town's name along with them into their spotlight.

 _Once  
Upon  
A time not far away_

And the names of such striking maidens? The elder of the two was named Isabel-Justina Hartmann, and the one-year-younger girl was named Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann. Both looked identical to each other by way of physical features, exemplified by how both preferred putting their hair into a _Bubischnitt,_ or a bob as it was known to English-speakers. What differentiated them was the color of their hair and eyes. Isabel had black hair with brown eyes while Erika had blonde hair and blue eyes.

 _We  
Both swore  
The oath to seize the day_

Neither of them had wasted any time to get up and out into the world of aviation. For instance, by the time Erika was five, she was already learning the basics of air combat while six-year-old Isabel relentlessly tested her younger sister's skills. It led to several times where Isabel had to exercise a lot more authority than would be expected of someone her age, like the time Erika had foolishly run herself out of fuel for her Bf 109 B-2 and landed in the surrounding fields. The elder girl had seen a _Panzer_ II adorned with the _Dunkelgelb_ finish roaming around the surrounding area, and she chose to wave at it and flag it down, for she had grown an idea.

 _Moving on, at the speed of light  
Still united, undivided_

Erika whined so pitifully and nearly cried when she found herself being forced to drive the light tank just so she could tow her powerless _Bruno_ back home. Her small stature had ached and screamed in pain while her mind called her older sister numerous unpleasant names, but she was not completely helpless, even if it was the first time she had driven a tank, though she hoped it to be the last time. Those that had operated the tank prior were so kind as to give her some pointers, especially the one with light brown hair and eyes. She found herself immediately liking that boy. She had picked up their names from hearing Isabel talk with the other boy, who looked ever-so-slightly older and had darker brown hair and eyes. Michael was what Isabel kept calling the more mature-looking one, and the name Manfred had come up a few times, which was met with a turning of the head from the younger of the two boys. Erika found herself mentally giggling when she heard Michael first introduce himself to Isabel with the Nishizumi surname. To the blonde, the name sounded so out-of-place on someone who was so obviously German in attitude and appearance that it was just funny.

 _We're sisters in arms_

Though quite forceful in her will, Isabel was not heartless. Far from it, in fact. After making Erika drive the _Panzer,_ she spent the rest of the day with her playing games and just generally being a kind and caring older sister. That came to her as naturally as breathing did, just as naturally as flying came to both of them.

 _Earning our gold and glory_

The reverse was also true. Erika absolutely adored her elder sister, even during times where she thought Isabel was just evil. So when she got wind that Isabel had claimed the spot of number one ace in the secondary school circuit of the Arts of Warfare that season despite only being in her first year of _Gymnasium,_ the just recently turned ten-year-old Erika mentally congratulated her. She would've loved to congratulate her physically with a hug, but Erika was still only in _Grundschule,_ though thankfully it was her last year. Then she would ascend to secondary school and join Isabel aboard the _Graf Zepellin,_ the massive _Schulschiff_ that housed Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium.

 _Stay true to your heart (Hey!)  
Come follow, heed the call_

To pass that time quicker, Erika had made some friends over the course of primary school. She had, of course, Manfred Nishizumi, younger brother to Michael, but she had some others as well. Those she had included Gertrud Königsberg, nicknamed Trudi, a brunette girl originally from Neckarsulm that was not the easiest to get along with on a good day, and downright hostile on a bad day; Heidemarie Wiese, also called Heidi, an almost eternally hyper girl looking for her place in the world; and Johanna Bär, or sometimes Hanna for short, the _Fußballer_ of the foursome, and quite good at it, too.

 _But nothing's forever  
No, nothing at all!_

" _Tell me,_ Isabel. Why did you ram her?" Erika insistently asked her older sister one evening. She had a gaze that expressed her unwillingness to leave Isabel be until she had an answer for why the black-haired girl had done something so unbecoming of someone with such great experience, which had incited grave future consequences that threatened to end one of the blonde girl's friendships. Though by now shorter than her sister since Isabel had already started puberty, Erika did not waver under her sister's gaze.

Isabel looked away for a split-second as guilt flashed across her face, but she schooled her features back to conceal that. Her guilt level was bad enough when she had pissed off Trudi to almost mythical proportions with just her appearance. Isabel did not wish to be the reason her younger sister lost a good friend. If that happened, she figured she would lose Erika the same way. That would be quite the summer break for her. "I got too impatient," the black-haired eleven-year-old reluctantly revealed. "I wanted to grab that victory so bad that I wanted it right then and there. And… well, that came back to bite me… I closed in too much and didn't realize it until it was too late."

 _Come  
Take flight  
Two templars of the skies_

The only way to settle that conflict, Erika believed, was to do it the old-fashioned way, and fight. It seemed only natural since Trudi was such a hardhead and also preferred to resort to violence as a method of conflict resolution. That was why both Erika and Isabel were taking off from the fields surrounding their home, each in their own Bf 109 E-4. The younger blonde knew that this was the only way to convince Trudi that Isabel was more than meets the eye. But she knew that she also had to win to make it work, which was looking ever the more daunting of a task when the pair of _Emils_ split off from each other to get to their starting positions, which were in opposite directions from each other. Despite the sheer talent Erika had, Isabel was still an extremely formidable opponent.

 _Rise  
So high  
Let's fight and prove we're knights_

And formidable Isabel was. She never gave Erika any time to think, constantly attacking and keeping the younger girl on alert. But Erika made her _Messer_ dance like a ballerina to throw off her opponent and saw exactly what the elder girl's plan was. So the next time Isabel made a dive to attack, Erika pulled up to meet her head-on and closed with do-or-die intent. The end result: a tie and plenty of work needed to bring the two mangled _Emils_ back up to snuff.

 _On  
And on  
The story must go on  
Running free, we always will be_

A few weeks later, Isabel had her suitcase and a backpack on her shoulders as she waited along the docks of Kiel. Her summer break was up, and it was time to get back on board the _Graf Zepellin._ But this time, she was not returning to Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium on her own.

A glance out of the corner of her eye had her see Erika beside her, struggling to stay still with her own backpack over her shoulders as she fiddled with her suitcase's handle. Isabel's mouth twitched upwards in amusement. She had already predicted that having Erika back by her side would bring with it a very interesting year.

 _We are what we are_

" _Ad victoriam,_ " was what Isabel always ended a briefing with, purposely leaving something else hang off her lips. As the _Geschwaderkommodore_ of Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader,_ she bore a lot more responsibilities than before. It wasn't made any easier by the fact she was so far the youngest _Geschwaderkommodore_ in Schwarzwaldspitze's history, at fifteen when she was given the spot midway through the previous season, meaning a lot was expected out of her. She had matured over the years into a very capable, responsible, and, to some, very attractive young woman. She had not lost her wings, though. Not one bit.

 _And we always strive for glory_

" _Ex machina!_ " was what the rest of the _Jagdgeschwader_ chanted in response throughout the hangar, completing the motto Isabel had grown fond of. Among those was Isabel's _de facto Stellvertreter,_ Erika, who was up near the front. She had also matured, though it was mostly a physical maturation. Mentally, she still very much embraced her inner child, which was why she often dumped any work she had to do as second-in-command onto Isabel's hands. But with her maturing also came a greater extension of herself on the battlefield, which was why Isabel trusted her completely as her _Leutnant_ despite the blonde pushing away paperwork whenever it approached her.

 _Together as one (Hey!)  
We shine like the sun!_

The two Hartmann sisters stuck close to each other practically all the time ever since Erika ascended to secondary school. But they were not alone. Both Michael and Manfred Nishizumi were very common faces to see with the two Hartmann girls, and it wasn't by coincidence. The four of them together all shared a quaint house, after all. Only just large enough for all of them, but small enough to make it feel cozy, the house had only the necessities for all four to stay together. For instance, there were only two bedrooms, which required doubling-up. Much to Erika's protest, Isabel took the same room as her and left the Nishizumis to share the other. It was an unconventional arrangement, but it worked.

The house itself was aboard the _Graf Zepellin,_ but the massive ship was docked in Kiel undergoing a major refit currently. So the students of Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium all temporarily transitioned to the land-based campus in Freiburg.

 _Beyond the divine, we're soaring_

Let it be said that there was always a possibility of boys taking their chances with trying to woo the Hartmann girls. After all, who _wouldn't_ want a girl as hot as either of them? Not to mention the two girls' high status? Add to that they were fucking rich, and who could resist them?

That problem was easy enough to remedy, though. Isabel simply brushed off any advances with the same indifference she always had for them, and if that wasn't enough for the black-haired girl, then Michael was always there to 'convince' any pursuers to back off. Erika, on the other hand, preferred to toy with any admirers she earned. She wasn't sadistic, no. Toying with them was simply a way to try and make sure no one would come after her. Humiliation was a powerful weapon. She wasn't looking for relationships. After all, something so serious as a relationship was not for someone so laid-back as Erika.

 _Shining on, so glorious  
The bloodline of true warriors_

Of course, one problem with Erika's attitude was that it did her no favors among the _Jagdgeschwader._ In fact, some actually resented her, because she seemed to put forth no effort, yet still managed to be better than everyone else in battle. That was the line of thought for one Hanna Jochen as she stared at Erika with a look of massive jealousy from across the hangar as the latter made no effort to help out the maintenance crews. With long blonde hair flowing down almost to her lower back and eyes as blue as the sky, Hanna had what could be argued as a dream body. That was thanks to her taking the initiative to become better than anyone else at being a fighter pilot and pushing herself to achieve that. And Hanna believed that Erika was an obstacle in her path of becoming the best, hence why the relatively toxic rich girl from Sindelfingen always challenged the blonde from the countryside in an effort to prove herself superior.

 _Fighting for the right to be  
Part of the legacy!_

In one instance, the challenge Hanna offered to Erika was a one-on-one dogfight with both using a Bf 109 B-2. The fight eventually ended in a draw because they both ran out of ammo, but Hanna was absolutely worthy of comparison to Erika. Though not making any logical sense in her flying, like putting herself into situations that _should've_ ended with her getting shot down, Hanna was an extremely talented flyer. She put herself into such situations because her sheer accuracy with her shooting plus her high skill in manipulating not only her own energy, but that of her opponent as well, often enabled her to shoot down the enemy regardless. All she needed was a split-second and she could nab a kill.

Though Erika was not someone those skills could work against, because she preferred bringing herself extremely close to her enemy at high speed and firing off a quick burst, which was almost impossible to defend against when combined with her talent for maintaining the element of surprise. Erika also had grown into being able to predict her opponent, which was why Hanna could never land a shot on her. The blonde Hartmann girl would always spoil her aim just when the girl from Sindelfingen thought she had her.

 _Earn your rep and your riches  
The gold awaits for you, my sis_

Hanna and Erika had managed to attract a lot of attention to their aerial fight, aweing spectators as the two seemed to make their _Brunos_ dance around the skies effortlessly while constantly trying to get an attack in. They had even drawn the attention of Isabel, who looked on from down below atop the turret of _Tiger_ number 212, which was commanded by one Michael Nishizumi. Isabel's lips twitched up at the sight of the two blondes realizing they had run out of ammo. Had they the ammunition, Isabel figured the two could fight each other endlessly. They were that well-matched.

 _Courage is your guiding star  
And it will take you far!_

And of course, when the two got back down on the ground, Isabel met them partway. Both of the formerly sparring blondes looked to the black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ with widened eyes filled with fear. After all, they had known that it was not in-line with the rules to take off for any reason without expressed notification, and both knew how serious Isabel was with making sure her rules were treated as law.

Instead, though, Isabel smiled. "Might I ask what you two were doing just now?" she asked in an innocent voice. Erika and Hanna, in their paranoia and irrationality caused by their fears, believed the Black Demoness was simply toying with them. Isabel did not earn that nickname for nothing, and was plenty sure both Hanna and Erika were fully aware of how she got that moniker.

"Um… Uh…" both of them stuttered, glancing at each other periodically.

While she waited for a coherent response, Isabel flipped her relatively short black hair back with a hand so the ends came to rest on the outside of her jacket's collar. Her neck had started itching from her hair and bugged her too much to ignore anymore. She had on Schwarzwaldspitze's aviator uniform, the same one that Erika and Hanna also wore at the moment, which consisted of a dark red skirt and a similarly colored button-up shirt covered by a black jacket with red accents. There was a small Iron Cross on each side of the collar, white in color. The jacket itself was similar in style to a _Luftwaffe_ trench coat, except it was much shorter in length. It was more comparable to a normal jacket in length, and the Black Demoness had the habit of leaving it completely undone, as did her younger sister.

On one shoulder of the jacket was a patch with the German black, red, and gold tricolor, a patch that was required to be worn for identifying purposes. Occasions of taking prisoners of war within the Arts of Warfare were much more common than one might believe at first, because it was also very common for nothing less than an all-out war to be waged during the time leading up to battle, especially if both sides were both large schools. Even though the Arts of Warfare were a sporting form of combat made remarkably safer over the years, there were still fail-safes in place to prevent fatalities. The shoulder patch depicting country of allegiance was one of those. It made it easier to account for combatants and identify them, and if the world had learned anything over the course of history, it was that logistics and organization were very important.

After all was said and done, Erika limped along in the halls of the school the next day, her entire body sore. Isabel's punishment for her and Hanna was nothing less than the younger Hartmann had expected, but it still hurt like hell. She and Hanna had been forced to push their Bf 109Bs into their positions in the hangar they came from, all by themselves with absolutely no help.

The young blonde ultra-ace was practically half-dead throughout the day's lessons, but the first time she saw her best bud Manfred, she regained her life force immediately with a start. The light brunette had a massive bruise along his left cheek. It wasn't pleasing in the least to see her friend so visibly abused like that, so while she was helping however she could with getting the light brunette boy better, she had managed to cajole out of him who did that to him. She rolled her eyes exasperatedly when Manfred revealed he had never wanted her to find out. Erika thought he was just being ridiculously too humble and _letting_ people walk all over him. But _she_ wouldn't let _anyone_ walk all over him, if she had a say in it.

The next day when she caught sight of him, Erika marched straight over to another boy with an absolutely livid look on her face. The most distinctive feature about the teenager was his very light blonde hair, quite unruly in a manner that only made him seem even more arrogant than was possible by the way he held himself. He heard footsteps come up behind him and turned, and Erika caught how his blue eyes widened with surprise for a split-second.

She only saw them for a split-second, because the very next split-second, she had punched him straight in the face, hard. Her fist connected hard enough to send the light blonde falling to the floor with a yelp. But Erika didn't stop there. She continued to pummel his face with the aim to make it unrecognizable using her fists and her feet. Her feet were the ever-more-painful of the two because of the blonde girl's odd preference for wearing black combat boots as everyday wear.

Erika was not able to fulfill her promise to mangle that young prick's face, because she found some arms take up residence under her shoulders and start pulling her back. Needless to say, the young blonde girl put up a fight, kicking her legs indignantly in an effort to somehow reach that bastard with her boots and smush his face in.

"Stand down, Erika!" she heard Isabel's voice sharply command her from behind. The action was enough to get her to at least take notice of everything around her, and she found out that Isabel was the one holding her back from behind. Add to that the two Nishizumi brothers being present, with Michael having a quiet discussion with the light blonde boy that was just on the receiving end of Erika's fury after helping him stand again.

 _Shining on, so glorious  
The bloodline of true warriors_

"That is Erika," Michael muttered to the other the identity of who was prepared to shove him six feet under. The light blonde had a piece of cold steak applied to one side of his face to stem the swelling. "Trust me, Erik. You _don't_ want to piss her off…" Erik Ignatz was a rich boy hailing from Stuttgart, and while seen as relatively good-looking with his unique light blonde hair and blue eyes that were fully expressive of his moods, he did not get off on the right foot with Erika. All the blond-haired flying ace saw in Erik was an arrogant bastard who did whatever he wanted. She saw in him the one who hurt her best friend, and that was the one thing that would make her lose it.

 _Fighting for the right to be  
Part of the legacy!_

"You listen to me, and you better listen good," Erika demanded as she pressed Erik against the wall of an empty hallway a day later. Though noticeably shorter, the look of pure hatred in the girl's blue eyes made the light blonde boy shut up and listen as he stared down at her. But he also held a look of contempt as a counter, to not seem affected adversely by the blond-haired ultra-ace. "If I _ever_ hear that you hurt Manfred Nishizumi again, then I will break every single bone in your body, slowly, _intimately,_ and just when your voice gives out from your endless screaming, I'll split your skull!" Erika fisted Erik's shirt with both of her small, feminine hands that were paradoxically flexed in anger, and brought his head closer to her own to make sure he could fully comprehend the next words she snarled out. "I will make you _long_ for something as _sweet_ as pain!"

 _Earn your rep and your riches  
The gold awaits for you, my sis_

"What did you do to him?" Manfred asked Erika a day after she confronted Erik again with his eyebrow raised. The younger Nishizumi asked such because he found it odd that Erik wasn't acting like his usual self: an arrogant prick that loves to hear his own voice, as Erika once so eloquently put it. No. The snowball-head, once again a name originated from the blond-haired ultra-ace, was instead doing well to stay out of Manfred's way. The rich boy from Stuttgart didn't pass up the chance to snarl at Erika, though.

The blond-haired ultra-ace simply shrugged off Manfred's question with nonchalance. "I don't know what you're talking about," she innocently said with an idle smile.

 _Courage is your guiding star  
And it will take you far!_

"Everyone, pack your bags," Michael Nishizumi announced to all of Schwarzwaldspitze's combatants out on the runway one evening. "We're heading to Bad Zwischenahn."

Erika and Manfred, at the front beside each other, raised both eyebrows in surprise and looked at each other with that same expression. They both knew that Michael was implying they had a practice match set up, though against who they did not yet know. Erika looked directly at Isabel with a questioning look. The black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ was alongside Michael since they were both the captains of their respective forces, Michael leading the _Panzerwaffe_ and Isabel leading the _Jagdwaffe._

The Black Demoness returned a look to Erika in response. It was a grin that showed teeth, but was relatively dark and predatory in nature. She also had a fire in her eyes as her competitive spirit flared up again. It was a look that Erika understood meant she was basically saying her favorite saying, ' _Ad victoriam._ '

Erika grew a similar grin, showing off her own teeth in a somewhat predatory nature along with her own flare of competitiveness reaching her eyes, and she responded wordlessly, ' _Ex machina._ '

The two young Hartmann girls, hailing from Weissach, finally had the opportunity needed to satisfy their massive thirst for increasing their kill count. They were both born to fly, and they both lived to achieve glory. They already had the glory of having the Hartmann name, but they wanted to go further and push themselves to be even better than their ancestor that put the name on the map in the first place.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 ** _The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to_** **Actas.** ** _The music belongs to_** **Hammerfall.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	106. Kapitel 19,3,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Neunzehn-komma-drei: Tag des Jüngsten Gerichts!_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: So Beurteilend!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Up in the skies over some random place in the continental United States, a fresh sheet-metal silver late production P-47D, with the bubble canopy and extended ventral tail fairing, was brutally shot down by an enemy Tempest Mk V that proudly wore the Allied invasion stripes. The four Hispano Mk II 20 mm cannons on the Tempest, each one filled with highly destructive HEFI rounds, were more than enough to snap the left wing off the Jug and send it careening down to earth. As was customary in the _Jägermeistern_ air battles, a red smoke trail deployed from the Thunderbolt's tail, though it was clear it was out of the fight even before it slammed into the earth. The pilot for the Jug had jumped out before experiencing the slam to earth for himself and parachuted to safety.

From an observation post on the field, three judges were present. All three hailed from different countries, but they shared the same uniform minus two shoulder patches on each arm with their countries' flags. There was one from Germany, who had brown hair and blue eyes. Then there was one from America, who had unruly blonde hair and also had blue eyes. With them was another judge from Russia, with black hair as dark as midnight skies and brown eyes. Each of their uniforms were the standard all-black judge uniforms, marked by how their shirts had 'JUDGE' boldly written out on the upper backside.

"That's it," the German judge summarily declared as he manipulated a tablet of his, no doubt making a confirmation of the air battle's results. All three knew that the British fighters were the victors after they absolutely annihilated their American adversaries, and, as judges were expected to do, none of them showed any bias or favoritism to any one side, instead relying on the facts. "The fight's over. We're done here."

"Aaaaah, _finally..._ " the Russian judge exhaled out as he stretched out, no longer being forced to stay in one position. He then looked over to his fellow judges with an inquiring look. "So, what's the plan for after this? Are we heading somewhere or what?"

"I guess so," the German judge replied as he continued messing around with his tablet. "I mean, I don't have any plans for later, so I'm game."

"Hey, y'all wanna head to a fighter emporium, then?" the American judge butted in with. "I've been eyeing some of the things in there."

"Ugh, _again_ with that?" the German judge bemoaned with displeasure. "I don't know about you, but I'm sick of looking at anything else related to aviation for today. Besides, I'm starving now."

"Aw, c'mon man," the American judge tried to barter with the others, albeit unsuccessfully.

"Oi! Refs!" all three heard a new, noticeably younger voice call from behind them. All of the refs turned their heads in questioning.

Walking up to them were two high-school boys that were in no way connected to the two teams that just duked it out. Their black uniforms, at a glance similar to that of _Luftwaffe_ ground crew, identified them as members of Ooarai's _Jägermeistern Staffel._

"Hey, just wanted to say thanks for putting up with everyone's shit!" Anton Silva so eloquently put forth, which earned him a smack to the back of his head by Herz Benz. "Ow, fuck! Well it's the truth, you know!" While the blonde American nursed the area of hurt on his head while simultaneously shooting a look of contempt at the noble Prussian, it was noticeable that he had a plastic bag filled with something.

"I believe what he meant to say was, 'thank you for all the hard work that you do,'" Herz rephrased with a winning smile. "We wish to express that sentiment via a gift." The black-haired noble looked over to his blonde comrade. "Anton?"

Anton took the cue and brought up the bag he held for all to see. "So we all decided to give you all some of the best pretzels baked up by Ooarai's resident pair of Swabians." He then slightly rolled his eyes in amusement upon recalling one particular detail: while he supported the idea, Erich simply left Miho to bake the treats for herself, because God forbid he does any work for once. "Or, at least, _one_ of them." Anton then presented the bag forth as if gesturing to take it. "Anyway, it'd be awesome if you all enjoyed them."

The German judge's eye twitched as if wanting to do something but clearly restraining himself.

"Aw yeah, I could inhale those right now!" the Russian judge remarked with an eagerness to his demeanor.

"Mmm-mmm! I could go for some pretzels!" the American judge similarly spoke up with delight. "I gotta admit-"

" _NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN!_ " the German judge interrupted as he practically exploded into a frenzy of energy. He had also started forcefully dragging his fellow judges away by the scruffs of their shirts, and none too gently, either.

Anton and Herz both blinked a few times, stunned at what just transpired. They both looked to each other in confusion, and the American soon shrugged slightly. "Maybe he doesn't like pretzels?" he guessed, not at all sure of what had caused the German judge's ire.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later in the evening, the three judges were hanging out at a bar set up under a tent. It was a relatively small bar, no larger than a food truck. All three judges had put on a sweater with a zipper over their shirts. The sweater itself was black like the rest of the outfit, but there was a small emblem on the upper left chest area as well as a larger version of the same emblem very prominently visible on the backside. It was a circular emblem with a thin black circle around the rim, and within the circle was a black silhouette of a low-wing monoplane with a slender fuselage, shown from the front. The wingtips contacted either side of the circle, and the aircraft itself was level along its roll axis.

The American judge chose to be unique and leave his sweater unzipped. He finished off a cookie he had ordered before he picked up his glass of scotch. He did not drink from it, but instead chose to break the silence among the trio. "You know, Johan," he directed at the German judge, Johan. "They were just pretzels. What kind of harm can pretzels cause? Unless, you know, you're allergic to them?"

"No, Steve," Johan answered upon bringing down his glass of beer. Unlike his two fellow judges, he held himself proper. "But to answer your other question, if word got out that we accepted a gift from students that are participating in the Arts of Warfare, then we would be in a load of _Scheiße!_ "

The Russian judge chuckled in amusement at Steve and Johan's bantering. "You're never one to disappoint, Johan," he remarked aloud his amusement as he swirled his shot of vodka.

"Remember this at least, Steve, Ivan," Johan looked to the American and Russian judges respectively to emphasize his point. "The Arts of Warfare may become as dirty as real war, but for its regulators to go the same route would cause this wonderful group of sports to be outlawed!" The German then took another swig of his beer before speaking up again. "Besides, you should know that I too was heartbroken when I had to decline their gift. You know that I love pretzels, but, like I said, if word got out that we accepted a gift from participants, then we'd be accused of taking bribes." Johan took yet another swig of beer and spoke up again after swallowing. "We've got to be careful about those kinds of things, especially with Ooarai considering just how many of their folks are beginners."

"Ah!" Ivan raised his finger in epiphany. "Speaking of Ooarai, the other day I was over there to collect some paperwork from them." He then knotted his eyebrows into frustration. " _Gospodi,_ I hate that little minx of a girl they have as their school president." Ivan then lost his edge and continued with his previous train of thought. "But anyway, I guess judges aren't commonly seen there or something, because I found a few of their first years just staring at me in curiosity." The Russian then knocked back his shot of vodka before continuing. "So I decided to put on a little show for them! I think they liked my acting. I chose to act as one of those baseball umpires and even do the whole hand signal spiel for directing planes around an airfield! I gotta admit, they were quite cute little ones."

" _Gott,_ Ivan, tell me you're not always doing stuff like that," Johan bemoaned before releasing a rough, exasperated sigh. "Why can't you take your work seriously for once…"

"Well, I had gone over one time to play around with the kids from Pravda," Steve remarked as he swirled his glass of scotch.

" _Yeban, I_ wanted to be the one to play with them!" Ivan objected with a curse as he slammed his shot glass down.

"Steve, what do you even mean by 'play?'" Johan asked with an eyeroll of annoyance, letting Ivan's outburst pass by without retaliation.

"Well it was during some random fight, I don't even remember which one anymore," Steve looked up in thought as he reflected. "But I remember these two tall black-haired folks, one girl and one guy, a couple, I had assumed, and Russian by the looks of it. Anyway, accompanying them everywhere were these two shorter blondes, one boy and one girl, also Russian. And let me tell you, _man_ was that girl _tiny!_ I thought she was only about seven or eight just by looking at her!" The American judge paused to knock back his glass of scotch before beginning anew. "But moving on, I made a remark to the two tall ones about how tough life was with kids, and how they were quite strong to push through it together. They simply smiled and gave their thanks, but the two smaller ones started protesting to my remark rather passionately, saying that they weren't kids or something, I dunno."

"Huh, I never heard of that happening before," Johan noted with a slightly stunned look on his face.

"I'm surprised you haven't, considering it's kind of become a famous story," Steve remarked. He then turned to the bartender with his glass raised. "Oi, get me another, Tony!"

"Get me another vodka, as well!" Ivan requested as he set his shot glass forth.

" _Noch ein Bier, bitte,_ " Johan asked for another beer as well, though not with the vigor shown by Steve and Ivan.

"One scotch, one vodka, and one beer coming up," the bartender cheerily replied as he busied himself behind the counter with acquiring the drinks requested.

"But back to what's important, Steve, Ivan," Johan spoke up while waiting for the drinks. "The kinds of things I just heard you two partake in should _not_ be happening! Take your work seriously, for God's sake!"

"Jeez, Johan," Steve began as he propped his head up with his arm, evidently annoyed with Johan's lecturing. "Do you really have the right to tell us that?"

The German judge blinked twice in confusion before speaking up, "What do you mean?" During that time, the drinks each of them requested were delivered and set right in front of each of them.

"Oh, you know _exactly_ what I mean," Steve insisted, fully focused on the conversation and not noticing his scotch yet. "Anzio's post-battle parties. Everyone knows that you never miss the chance to partake in them."

"That's because those parties are a reward for all the players _and_ organizers!" Johan countered with emphasis on the organizers. "They even said such themselves! Besides, who do you know that can resist that kind of cooking?"

Steve held up his hands in a mock-surrender gesture, evidently convinced for the moment of Johan's point. "Alright, I'm just saying," he relented.

Johan rolled his eyes at that. "Well, I will say one thing about those parties," he began. He then lifted his beer with the smallest of grins on his face. "They lack the refreshments we would prefer."

"Amen to that," Steve and Ivan replied similarly with grins on their faces as they lifted their own drinks. All three judges then clanked their glasses together in a toast.

" _Prost!_ " Johan offered his toast.

"Cheers!" Steve made his own.

" _Na zdorov'ye!_ " Ivan offered his toast as well, and then all three proceeded to get fucking wasted.

XXXXXXXXXX

Many, many, _many_ rounds of drinks later, Johan gave a sigh, seemingly one of longing. "No one appreciates us," he sullenly said.

Ivan sat up with absolutely zero grace, looking about ready to collapse on himself, and Steve spat to the side after hearing Johan speak up before turning to face the others.

"Well, _that_ came out of nowhere," the American among them observed with a proudly-drunken smile. "But I'll give you that. No one seems to give a fuck about us."

" _Da,_ " Ivan slurred an affirmative response. "Even though there's just as much danger in regulating the sport as there is in participating in it…"

"So, then, what I heard the other day then…" Johan began with another drunken tale, number who-fucking-cares of that night. "That ginger girl from Ooarai kept going on and on about popularity to her friends, how they would be all the rage if they participated in the Arts of Warfare…" The German remained silent for a bit, but then he slammed his glass of beer down and shot up in frustration. "There's nothing that awaits you besides serving scum you're forced to address as ' _Herr_ ' if you continue on in the Arts of Warfare! There's nothing good that can possibly come from sticking with it!"

"Oi, just sit down, Johan!" Steve tried to coerce Johan into sitting back down, though he had a smile on his face, as if he knew something like that would happen eventually. "Just drink up! Drink up and forget it all!"

"Tony, keep them coming!" Ivan told the bartender with a care-free grin at the situation he found himself in.

"No, seriously, listen to this!" Johan began before abruptly changing his voice into one laced with confidence and an, admittedly awful, impersonation of a Japanese accent. "'I have a 120% hit rate!'" He then went back into his voice of rage. "What the devil does that mean?! How do you even shoot nonexistent targets?! Are you a _Dummkopf?!_ "

Steve and Ivan started laughing at Johan's acting. "Ah, there it is!" Steve cried through his laughs. "There's Captain Honda!"

"Ah, there's Johan's party trick!" Ivan clapped his hands through his own laughs. "Keep it coming!"

"And then the pretty samurai boy's all like, 'Good job, very nice!' like the puppet he is!" Johan continued on with his direction-less, drunken, and mocking rant. " _Scheiß auf mein Leben!_ " He ended his rant by slamming his head on the counter once, and very hard. The wasted German was seemingly done for the night.

Steve and Ivan were about to ask for another drink, but they each felt a hand on their shoulders, and by their sight of him slouched over the counter, they knew it was not Johan. They both tensed with unspoken fear when they found out it could only be one other possibility, a possibility that had only seconds ago been mocked aloud by Johan.

"Hey, Tony," Captain Muto Honda's voice flowed in the nighttime air. He was dressed in the same outfit that the other judges wore, but markedly differed by having a plain white undershirt instead of the judges' unique black shirts. Well, that and he was still measurably more buff than the others even through such clothes. "We're all gonna need some more drinks here. Because let me tell you…" The Captain from the JASDF switched his grip on Steve and Ivan so he now held them by the scruffs of their sweaters, fully knowing they both intended to make a break for it. Well, the Captain decided that wouldn't be so as he held the American and Russian in place with a winner smile on his face. "We're gonna drink to the bitter end tonight!"

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	107. Kapitel 19,3,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Neunzehn-komma-drei: Tag des Jüngsten Gerichts!**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Schneller als Blitz**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Everyone present at the drawing for the 62nd International Arts of Warfare Tournament in always-lovely Zürich, Switzerland knew that the French national program for the Arts of Warfare was absolutely screwed this year. The faces of the country's representative school that year, BC Liberté Lycée, showed that they all thought as much, too. Avenall, a tall, young man with very tame short light brown hair and hazel eyes filled with patience, and cohort Georgette, a pleasing maiden with her light brown pigtails reaching her upper back mixed with light blue eyes and a not as well-endowed chest area by comparison to other girls, both knew that as students of BC Liberté, this was the last year they could strive to bring back victory for all of France.

And the two French captains both also knew, from the way they could see the cold, calculating eyes of Michael Nishizumi and Isabel-Justina Hartmann of Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium light up with fire as they observed from their own seats as Germany's representative school, that they were absolutely fucked. Reason being: France was pinned up against Germany for the first round. And from past experience, the two French citizens knew that there was nothing that would be held back.

 _Fast as the wind_  
 _The invasion has begun_

Every single school across Germany grew fired up learning that their centuries-long arch-rival was their first opponent of the year. It was proven by how quickly tanks started crossing over the border into Belgium, the so-called 'shortcut into France' as it was often referred to informally, and by how quickly fighters of both sides had started engaging each other in air battles that held no purpose besides the attempt to prove superiority over one another. Because this was all-out war being waged between the two countries. Even though the matches lent themselves to pitting one school against the other, before that time, the schools were basically like divisions in an overall army spanning the whole country.

 _Shaking the ground!_  
 _With the force of thousand guns!_

The French tank force down below, mainly made up of the iron wall that was the _Char_ B1 _bis_ and the more cavalry-oriented SOMUA S35, made their best effort to repel the German spearhead into French lands, fully aware that this was the _Blitzkrieg_ raining down on them. But the German _Panzers_ were considerably stronger this year than they were in past years. This was proven when Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzers_ steamrolled through, taking on their role as point of the spearhead effortlessly. Their newly-acquired _Panther_ Gs held all the advantages: quite fast and agile despite its weight, a fantastic gun that could cut through even the heaviest of armor, frontal armor that could take a ton of punishment, and almost entirely trouble-free with the _Ausführung_ G's refinements. Besides that damn transmission's final drive.

 _First in the line of fire_

But Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerwaffe_ wasn't the only branch to get new toys. Their _Jagdwaffe_ also had their fair share of new equipment to play with.

 _First into hostile land_  
 _Planes clearing the way_

There was nothing but craters and white flags raised when the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panthers_ made it to the first line of resistance. Thanks to Schwarzwaldspitze's new Fw 190Ds, of the D-13 variety to be specific, the enemy strongholds had already been bombed out, one SC 500 bomb at a time. No matter the variant, the 190 was always a highly capable fighter-bomber.

Of course, there were still great numbers of Bf 109s in their ranks, mainly of the G-14 variety and a few of the F-4 variety plus two of the G-6 variety specially decorated with black tulips on their noses. But excluding the two G-6 models, which were both flown by Isabel-Justina Hartmann and Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann, undoubtedly the two most highly-skilled pilots in the school, the 109s mostly took on the support role with providing top cover. The Focke-Wulfs were now the stars of the show for the most part, what with their abilities to do almost anything one could ask for.

 _Clearing the way!_

Up above the skies of France was where the two 109s flown by the two Hartmann girls chose to remain, fully dedicated to achieving air superiority. D.520s, M.S.406s, VG.33s, and although rarer thanks to conversion to newer types, D.500s and D.510s as well, were all shot down mercilessly by various types of the _Messer._ The _Doras_ got some aerial kills as well thanks to their flexibility, but their primary roles were that of interdiction and strike fighters.

It became exceedingly obvious that the French did not have anything to compete with the Germans in the air, which only hastened the arrival of complete German aerial supremacy. Though BC Liberté had some special equipment that normally wouldn't be seen in French hands with regards to armor and aviation, the French school chose not to send them out for fear they would get utterly mangled and taken out of commission for the upcoming official match.

 _Charging the lines with the force of a furious storm_

Down on the ground, it was simply the German _Panzers_ sweeping across the land tucked in behind their spearhead, Schwarzwaldspitze. The elite German school was stacked with not only their _Panthers,_ but also plenty of the always-reliable _Panzer_ IV Js as the second backbone and to support the _Panthers,_ a handful of _Panzer_ III J1s for scouting purposes, and two of the utterly terrifying _Tiger_ H1s crewed by their best.

 _Fast as their fighters, Panthers swarm!_

Though the other tanks that made up the _Panzerwaffe_ did not see much of the _Panthers,_ because the _Panthers_ seemed to be in a race against the _Jagdwaffe's_ fighters to see who could cover more territory quicker. The organized lines of resistance were often used as the checkpoints, and the race was quite close: the _Panthers_ continually arrived just mere seconds after the _Doras_ from above blew the lines to smithereens with their payloads. While never quite being able to beat them to destroying the lines, the _Panthers_ definitely showed off their fantastic speed and agility with being able to keep up. They could simply go around an enemy strongpoint and leave them in their dust, which made the sight of the rampant-running _Panthers_ ever the more panicking for those further behind the frontlines.

 _Two-hundred miles at nightfall_

About halfway to their destination, the location where the official match was to be held, the lightning fast attacks were brought to a halt with the onset of night. Because everyone needed rest at some point.

 _Taken within a day, being a great bane_  
 _Earning all fame_

After the first day, Schwarzwaldspitze had managed to cover half the distance to the location of their official match. They were the exemplars of the _Blitzkrieg,_ showing up everywhere the French had least expected and catching them with their pants down.

Of course, in the air, it was not so different. All of Schwarzwaldspitze's pilots had gotten kills added to their count that day, including the night fighter pilots flying their He 219s up into the skies by the time the sun set. Some put more scratch marks on their fighters as marks of those kills, but of note, some had great difficulty doing such due to the sheer number of kills they already had. One such case was Hanna Jochen, who, despite flying an earlier Bf 109 F-4, already had the tailfin littered with scratch marks. And then there were the two Hartmann girls, who literally had so many marks that it was simply impossible to record them all on their _Gustavs._ The two 109s would've simply looked like they were wearing a new camouflage scheme if all of their kills were recorded on them.

 _They are the Panzer elite!_  
 _Born to compete!_  
 _Never retreat!_  
 _(Schwarzwaldspitze)_

Already up and at it the next day, Schwarzwaldspitze's relatively few number of _Panzer_ IIIs with the longer 50 mm KwK 39 found themselves engaging several enemy Renault R35s they had spotted on their scouting run through the bocages.

 _Foes all marked red!_  
 _Always ahead!_  
 _Fed by their dread!_

Seeing that they had nothing better to do due to a lack of aerial opposition, many of the fighters of Schwarzwaldspitze joined in the ground pounding. Whether it be simple scouting of enemy positions, coordinating in live time with the _Panzers,_ or physical contribution with strafing and dive bombing, most of the 109s available took up roles alongside the Fw 190Ds.

There were still those, however, that stuck to the air supremacy agenda. Among those were the two Bf 109 G-6s flown by Isabel and Erika, plus all of the Bf 109 F-4s, which was often dubbed the ace's mount by its pilots due to its perfect harmony in flight, and therefore its ease of being able to outperform an enemy fighter. It made sense in that light as to why they were not part of the ground pounding that sucked in the Bf 109 G-14s.

 _Always ahead_  
 _As the Blitzkrieg rages on_

The achievements of the fighters dedicated to air superiority were marked with flying deep into enemy territory and sweeping the air clear of any and all enemies. They were never caught off-guard or surprised, because they were always in control of the situation. Their fighters' superior performance enabled that, as did their extensive training.

 _Breaking morale!_  
 _With the sounds of falling bombs!_

Not to be outdone, the fighters assigned to ground pounding chose to spice things up a bit the next time they loaded up their payloads and started using whistles on their bombs. Because while they could just as easily flush out the French positions normally, it wasn't nearly as much fun as watching them grow terrified upon hearing the whistling of a falling bomb. It was not a question of 'why,' but a question of 'why not.'

 _Fast into lines of fire_

And not to be outdone themselves, the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerabteilung_ put on another very quick pace for themselves. Because if the German _Panzers_ had proved one thing, it's that tanks were far from the slow crawling fortresses most people believed them to be.

 _Fast into hostile land  
Tanks leading the way_

Once more, the _Panthers_ charged ahead with their impressive agility straight into the enemy's line of fire. If it was too much for them, like if they ran into one of the 155 mm field guns the French had laying around, one of the rare FCM F1 super heavy tanks, or the equally rare ARL 44 heavy tank, then they simply booked it to either meet back with the main force or to bypass the opposing force. Oh, the _Panthers_ definitely had the firepower to take them down. It was just an unwillingness to lose one of their own that kept them from attacking those greater foes.

The long-barreled _Panzer_ IVs were not as sprightly in their mobility as the _Panthers_ were, but they performed admirably as support for them. While everyone was focused on the _Panthers,_ that left the _Panzer_ IVs free to wreak havoc while they weren't being focused on.

And of course, the small number of _Panzer_ IIIs were no liabilities. Their armor and firepower was sufficient to deal with most French armor, even though that was not their main task. They were used mostly as scouts. Leave it to the Germans to use a full-fledged battle tank as a scout tank.

 _Leading the way!_

And then there was the other role that the _Panzer_ IIIs were used in: as escorts for the two monstrous _Tiger_ H1s. Each had a Nishizumi as their commander, with Michael taking _Tiger_ number 212 and the slightly younger Manfred commandeering _Tiger_ number 217.

Let it not go unsaid that there was not much use for them in the initial parts of the invasion. The _Panthers_ had already taken down all resistance before the two slower heavy tanks could make contact with them. But the deeper Schwarzwaldspitze advanced to their objective, the more stubborn the French resistance got, and the _Tigers_ had been needed to assist.

 _Leaving a trail of destruction through a foreign land  
(Waging war!  
With conviction!)_

The bocages had a notable impact on the speed of the German offensive, as they were not at all friendly to the more capable tanks like the _Panther_ and the _Tiger._ Which was why, whenever possible, the Schwarzwaldspitze spearhead advanced in open terrain.

 _Massive assault  
Live to be the ones so grand!  
(Deutschland's pride!  
Best in nation!)_

The ground offensive came down on the next enemy holdout faster than a crack of lightning, and harder than the boom of thunder. The two _Tigers_ led the charge, taking any and all punishment as if it was nothing with their sheer amount of armor. If that's not enough, add to that the angling used by them to increase the relative armor thickness even more. Also include the massive 88 mm KwK 36s that destroyed anything and everything they shot at, whether it was enemy armor or soft targets. The _Acht-Acht_ made to take down all.

 _Communications broken_

Though Michael Nishizumi could not care less about how fearsome his and his brother's _Tigers_ were at the moment, because he was rendered busy trying to make contact with Isabel over the radio. He let out a noncommittal 'Hmm' when he found himself unable to establish contact with her or any of her fighters.

 _Fighters too far away, and being such pains  
Earning all fame_

Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdwaffe_ was simply so far ahead of their _Panzerwaffe_ that they had gotten out of range to communicate with them. They were too busy shooting down anything that dared to take off and get airborne, and when they ran out of enemy aircraft, they busied themselves with strafing columns. Interdiction was the day's main entree, and the German fighters were enjoying serving it as they left the French columns in a swath of destruction and disrepair.

 _They are the Panzer elite!  
Born to compete!  
Never retreat!  
(Schwarzwaldspitze)_

So Michael sent out the _Panzer_ IIIs to serve as scouts from then on, since the _Jagdwaffe_ wasn't doing it apparently. That was okay, he figured, considering they were nearly upon their destination. There really wasn't a need for air support at that point when they could simply storm the last shred of resistance to the town and then set up camp. Perhaps he could convince his brother, Isabel, and Erika to take a side-trip with him to Paris to pass the time while waiting for the official fight's scheduled date to approach.

 _Foes all marked red!  
Always ahead!  
Fed by their dread!_

The designated arena for the official fight between BC Liberté and Schwarzwaldspitze was a small town with plenty of fields surrounding it. At first glance, the town seemed unintriguing, but it bore a very familiar name that haunted unaware tank commanders with the horrors of a rampant _Tiger_ slaying everything in its path: Villers-Bocage.

And come the day of battle, BC Liberté's captain of the armored forces chose to err on the side of caution. Avonell knew he couldn't simply take on Schwarzwaldspitze in a heads-up fight. That would've been equivalent to a suicide charge. He chose to have his forces set up shop in the town itself. It would be easier to repel armored thrusts in urban areas, and it made it more difficult for his tanks to be detected from the air and crushed by fighter-bombers.

The same could be said of Georgette's mindset for her aerial forces. It was simply better to stick together and let the enemy come to them rather than try to seek out an enemy with superior training and superior equipment.

Most of the French school's equipment was antiquated and outdated, though a great percentage of it was not of French origin, strangely enough. The only French equipment used by BC Liberté was a number of the Hotchkiss H39 cavalry tanks, the _Char_ B1 _bis_ heavy tank, a number of the Dewoitine D.373 parasol-winged monoplane fighters, and the Dewoitine D.520, a highly respectable fighter of French origin.

Besides that, most of their lineup was American in origin. The tanks of American origin included the M4A2, the main export variant of the _Sherman_ using a diesel engine; the M10, a Sherman-based tank destroyer with a highly revised layout to adhere to the American tank destroyer doctrine; and a good number of M5 _Stuart_ light tanks. The fighters of American design included a number of P-40Fs, a P-38G twin-engine fighter, and a P-39N, unique for its engine being behind the pilot and its massive 37 mm cannon.

And there was one last special surprise that was relegated to utmost secrecy and isolation during Germany's pre-battle blitz, as these weapons were the most powerful in BC Liberté's arsenal, yet they were also German in origin. Avonell's steed on the ground was a _Panther_ G, painted in a distinctly different woodland camouflage using yellow, green, and brown plus the emblem of the school on the turret sides. Georgette had herself the other weapon of interest, an Fw 190 D-13 wearing the markings of BC Liberté. Their markings were distinguished enough from the Iron Cross markings used by Schwarzwaldspitze to make the French-flown _Dora_ distinct enough from any German-flown _Doras._

Suffice to say it was morale-dropping to hear that the French _Dora_ was taken down relatively quickly. It was the job of Erika and Hanna to eliminate their big guns first. While the other German fighters chose to begin the ground pounding game down low, Erika and Hanna were left to face down the entirety of the enemy's aerial might, and they pulled it off amazingly enough. It ended up turning into a competition after Erika swatted the enemy Fw 190D aside, eliminating the biggest threat to them. White tracers seemingly spewed out in every direction from the two 109s and crippled everything else in their vicinity.

Much to Hanna's frustration, however, Erika ended up nabbing more kills than she did after all was said and done.

Down on the ground, the town of Villers-Bocage was visibly crippled by the German airstrikes, and BC Liberté had to keep shifting their positions in the town to avoid not only the airstrikes, but also the rampant _Panthers_ that seemed to always appear out of nowhere. Further back behind them were the _Panzer_ IVs always keeping the enemy on their toes with their direct fire support, plus the _Panzer_ IIIs and one of the two _Tigers,_ number 212. None of them got directly involved in the action, though, as the _Panthers_ were simply too quick to keep up with.

The other _Tiger,_ number 217, entered the town from a different direction all alone. Manfred was insistent to Michael that the enemy would not have a reason to stay in the town if Schwarzwaldspitze attacked with all its might, which was why the other _Panzers_ held back behind the _Panthers._ So the younger of the Nishizumi brothers took it a bit further and entered the town with his own _Tiger,_ aiming to keep the enemy on their toes with trying to find out where the other Tiger went. Michael thought it was a dumb idea, but Manfred dismissed that, saying that time was of the essence. If he didn't do this, then the fight would be dragged out for much longer, which nobody wanted.

So great the shock was on the faces of BC Liberté's tankers when they found their _Panther_ get mauled by an enemy from behind them, and the shock quickly turned to fear when they found they were all trapped between the destroyed _Panther_ and the other enemy _Tiger_ on a narrow street. After confirming the enemy _Panther_ was destroyed, the commander of said _Tiger_ made a mental note to emphasize to the _Panther_ crews on his own team to always remain on the move. He also made sure to praise his gunner on the impeccable accuracy he showed with taking down the _Panther._

Manfred knew what he was doing and had his _Tiger_ angled to increase its relative armor thickness. It paid off well when he found his tank get impacted by a flurry of desperate return fire that was completely absorbed by the thick armor. Calmly, he ordered his gunner to take down the M10 next. One 88 mm shell later and the American tank destroyer was history. After that, it was like shooting fish in a barrel, as there was nothing else that the enemy had that even stood a chance at penetrating a _Tiger._

 _Pushing the frontline forth with a tremendous force  
(Close to ground!  
Strafes resistance!)_

One by one, each of the BC Liberté tanks raised their French war flags, otherwise known as the white surrender flag. It was so clear that victory was achieved that many of the fighters started to mindlessly strafe the street, now jokingly known over comms as _Tigerstraße_ after Manfred's absolute ownership over everything down that way. Every BC Liberté tank that started the fight was now within that street, destroyed in a terrible way.

 _Breaching the way for Panzerkorps!  
(Show no fear!  
Self-subsistent!)_

Being the extremely humble youngster he is, though, Manfred refused to take the credit for victory that day, instead trying to place the credit in the hands of the _Jagdwaffe._ By his reasoning, if it wasn't for them, then BC Liberté would've likely held out for a much longer time and dwindled away Schwarzwaldspitze's numbers.

 _Silenced the line of fire_

Then to his luck, or unluckiness depending on how one saw it, Erika arrived and, with an amused smile, bluntly told him to just shut up and take the praise. Manfred had no way to counter his best friend's words, so he remained silent and hesitantly accepted her insistence that he did great.

 _Cleared out all hostile land  
Cleaning up their rain  
Claiming their fame_

Despite getting utterly humiliated by the Germans, Avonell and Georgette showed great sportsmanship after the fight. Neither one was spiteful or vengeful. Instead, after congratulating Michael and Isabel on their victory, they both went to the ones that took them down and praised them for their abilities. Erika found herself highly amused when Manfred flushed under Avonell's praise. She herself thanked Georgette for her kind words before trying to get her light brunette friend to at least say _something_ in response.

 _They are the Panzer elite!  
Born to compete!  
Never retreat!  
(Schwarzwaldspitze)_

That night was full of celebration for the students of Schwarzwaldspitze. The German school was considered the best in the nation in the Arts of Warfare, and they proved it once again with a quick, crushing victory over the French. They held fast through both the pre-battle blitz and the official fight itself.

 _Foes all marked red!  
Always ahead!  
Fed by their dread!_

Since their fight was one of the first to occur, Schwarzwaldspitze found itself with plenty of time to prepare for the next round. But, as Erika was quick to say, that can be done later. For now, it was party time, as the heavy number of beer glasses consumed that night indicated.

 _Panzer elite!  
Born to compete!  
Never retreat!  
(Schwarzwaldspitze)_

Somehow, the partying reached the point where those of the _Panzerwaffe_ started drunkenly singing some of the older marching songs. It was a mystery how that occurred, but everyone else joined in eventually, as well. The only exception was when they reached the song _Erika,_ whereupon a few people grew spiteful looks aimed at Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann. Hanna Jochen seethed in rage in how Erika got all the praise from everyone else, even though she herself had contributed, too. Erik Ignatz just plainly didn't like Erika after she had defended her friend from him.

 _Foes all marked red!  
Always ahead!  
Fed by their dread!_

Erika didn't see such looks, however, as she and Isabel were busy raising up another toast with another glass of beer. Both had flushed faces from the amount they had drunk so far, but they didn't appear to care. " _Ad victoriam!_ " Isabel led off her favorite motto with her glass raised.

" _Ex machina!_ " was the overwhelming response as a wave of glasses and mugs raised to meet the toast. If there was one thing that absolutely everyone in Schwarzwaldspitze could agree on, it was that they were the best not just in their nation, but in the world.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	108. Kapitel 20,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zwanzig: Nach der Wartung, es muss ein Bad sein!_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Schlagzeilen_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Another day, another dollar. That's how the saying goes, though it's somewhat modified for the Aeronautics Club of Ooarai High School. It's not quite on the level of ' _der Rubel muss rollen,_ ' though one could argue that was indeed the case judging by physical appearances alone. To the Aeronautics Club, the saying could be best summed up as 'we'll do it since we're the only ones that can, even though we don't get paid jack for it, because we're just that selfless.'

Both Pfirsich and Zitrus knew such things when they strolled into the hangars that morning to see how the Aeronautics folks fared in their overnighter spent fixing up all their fighters. Both wore their usual school uniforms as they gazed at each of the fighters belonging to the school. Pfirsich's eyes shined in satisfaction, while Zitrus had a grin to express his own satisfaction. Finally, both turned to the ones responsible for such perfect work, and it was perfect, if the two student council members had to be honest. The two were even given forms for each of the fighters that summed up their inspections, and all passed with flying colors, no pun intended.

"Well, this was very sudden of us to ask you this favor, but you all performed admirably," Pfirsich stated with just a hint of satisfaction in his voice. He doesn't often show gratitude, but when he does, it's obviously genuine. "You all have our deepest thanks."

Zitrus nodded with a grateful smile on his face. "You all must have had a rough night," he commented when taking in the appearance of the Aeronautics club. "But you still put up some of your best work, and for that we thank you."

"Hey, no worries," Yeager replied with a mock-salute, though the way it was done betrayed his exhaustion. "I will admit, though, we needed quite a lot of caffeine to make it through the night."

All four of the Aeronautics folks were coated with stains ranging from oil to grease to built-up black dust, becoming absolutely filthy. Not like they cared, for they were used to this. All of them also had barely enough energy to hold themselves up, though both Yeager and Brown pushed forth and at least made the effort to keep some of their dignity by participating in conversation. The same could not be said for Reitsch and Dittmar, who looked about ready to fall over at the slightest breeze.

"But there you have it!" Yeager continued to report to the two student council members. "All fighters are back to immaculate condition!"

"Yes, thank you very much," Pfirsich nodded. "For such hard work, I believe you've all earned a day of rest." The professional Bavarian then waved his hand in a shooing motion. "So go on, take the rest of the day off. I'll notify your instructors."

"Ah, thanks a ton," Yeager replied with gratefulness. He and his cohorts turned to leave, but Yeager looked over his shoulder to say one last thing. "And if you need us for something, well, you know my number."

Both of the student council members nodded their understanding and waved farewell to them.

The four guys responsible for everything mechanical that could take to the air walked off together. They made no attempt to at least appear presentable, because they all knew they weren't. So there was no point.

"Ugh, that was a real wringer we were thrown through," Dittmar opined to the others. "So what do we do now?"

"That," Reitsch raised a finger to interject. He also had a grin that was delighted, yet didn't quite appear so due to exhaustion. "I have already taken care of."

"Neato…" Brown voiced himself without thinking.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere several minutes later, all of the Aeronautics guys entered a small slice of Heaven. That is to say, Reitsch's idea was to have a hot bath in the middle of nowhere using four fifty-five-gallon drums reused in a very unique way.

"Good mother of God," Yeager moaned in pleasure within his own drum bath. "If you don't experience this at least once, then you're not living."

"Don't we bloody know it," Brown agreed wholeheartedly from his own drum. Reitsch and Dittmar didn't respond, but their faces showed they also were enjoying the chance to unwind. After all, it was once in a blue moon that the Aeronautics Club ever got a chance to let themselves go.

The drum baths themselves were originally an invention of the Automotive Club, though the Aeronautics guys, as always, implemented their own improvements to the system. It was still basically the same as before, being drum baths supported by cinder blocks with large hoses pumping water into them from the bottom, with water provided via pumps. The Aeronautics folks chose to change the previous arrangement of driving the pumps via generators, and replaced the generators with electric motors that presently drew power from the ship itself. The main benefits of such an arrangement allowed the entire system to be plug-and-play, as the electric motors could be powered from standard wall sockets, and the electric motors were far more practical to use since the water pumps were scarcely used aside from the first several seconds when the drums would be filled up. Simply put, the generators were far less efficient than the electric motors for this role.

From the start, the entire system gave each drum bath the ability to regulate water temperature and to recirculate the water automatically. The Aeronautics folks modified the entire system's hot water supply extensively to gain the ability to have a hot bath instantly. This was achieved by holding the necessary amount of water to fill the bath in a separate supply tank known as the 'ready' tank very close to the bath. The tank itself was designed with a two-layer construction, with both layers holding no contact with one another, and the space in between the two layers was vacuumed out. The final result meant that heat transfer from the water to the tank was minimized as much as possible, meaning that even when left to sit, the hot water inside would always stay hot, even after just starting a bath, which had the effect of practically eliminating warm-up times.

Overall, the system was insanely practical, surprisingly enough. It was surprising because the Aeronautics guys had a known penchant for overengineering, exemplified by their work with the school's Me 163. But they nevertheless created a very practical hot bath that was portable, as the only things that needed to be provided were water and electricity. It still had an exceedingly obvious Jerry-rigged look to it, but as the Aeronautics folks persisted: function over form.

"I said it before, and I'll say it again," Yeager proclaimed as he washed his arms. "This is fucking paradise."

"Yeah, I agree with you there," Dittmar spoke up from his own bath, looking completely loosened up. "I know the school has that large public bath for everyone, but I honestly don't like the idea of public bathing. Plus, this is _far_ more relaxing."

"Ah, well," Yeager responded as he slouched in his bath, leaving his head just above the water. "It's a cultural thing, so I won't criticize it, but I feel the same way." He then let himself go silent as he just relaxed, letting his head descend even further into the water. The American aeronautical engineer found himself relaxed enough to start falling away into sleep.

Not a smart idea, as he realized very quickly when he shot up on full alert, coughing viciously. "Ugh! Holy fuck!" he exclaimed. He soon recovered after taking many deep breaths and regaining full consciousness. "Goddamn, I never thought I could ever feel so relaxed that I would end up drowning in the source of my relaxation." The American soon lazily passed his gaze over the others before he gasped and opened his eyes in alarm.

The sight he found was all of the others doing the very same thing he had done only seconds prior: falling asleep in the water.

"Fucking hell!" Yeager cried out. "Wake up, guys!" He got no response, and he didn't bother waiting for one either. He had already moved to unveil a few other surprises built into the baths, collectively labeled the Emergency Self-Defense Equipment. The equipment was held in racks built into the sides of the drums, and each one had the necessary equipment.

First up, Yeager drew a slingshot. It was a rather crude weapon, one that was almost impossible to overengineer without turning it into something besides a slingshot, but it got the job done. Yeager took out a baseball and shot it with the slingshot against Dittmar's bath. He quickly moved on to take another baseball and shoot it against Reitsch's bath. The sound generated and the heavy vibration were enough to stir the two of them out of unconsciousness with quite the start, but Yeager already moved on without bothering to see if his attempt was successful, for time was of the essence.

The American next pulled out a baseball bat, an aluminum bat to be specific. "Sorry about this," he muttered before proceeding to swing it as hard as possible against Brown's drum, which was right next to his own.

The sound produced was so heavy that Yeager could feel the air vibrating around him in protest, but, even if it was an arguably cruel way to wake someone up, Brown still woke up.

"Gah!" the British engineer among the group shouted in alarm.

"My bad, but you all know that it's suicide if you fall asleep in water," Yeager apologized to the group as a whole while also giving a brief lecture. He tried to recover his breath at the same time, as he had performed his emergency wake-up routine in about five seconds, which was obscenely quick and no doubt only possible with adrenaline.

"Yeah, yeah," Dittmar agreed, looking somewhat shameful at falling into such an action. "Thanks, Yeager."

"That was very hazardous…" Reitsch groaned out as he let his head droop over the drum's edge. "But oh, it felt so good to just do nothing."

"My bloody ears, mate…" Brown soullessly mentioned. Yeager could already tell that the Brit's ears would be ringing for a very long time.

"Just be careful, guys," Yeager reminded, now with a sense of relief. "I know we're all lacking sleep, but you've got to keep your wits still." The American then smiled ruefully. "Besides, for all that I wish we would make headlines, I do _not_ want it to be because we died a very odd death." He looked around to find everyone else's expressions in agreement with his own. "Although, I will admit, it would be very entertaining to see the reactions of the student council."

Reitsch and Dittmar grinned in amusement of the last statement to come out of Yeager's mouth. Then Reitsch grew a thoughtful look before asking, "Hey, guys?"

"What?" Dittmar provided a reply.

"Did you all remember to bring some spare clothes?" Reitsch wondered.

Everyone remained silent, awkwardly silent, for no one had an answer to that.

"… So you mean to tell me that we all just jumped in here without thinking?" Reitsch asked in confirmation as everyone slowly started to realize what was being implied, the dread of which infiltrated their faces. "… How in the hell are we gonna get back home?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Brown quickly interjected as he waved his hands around. "Can't we just wear our old clothes back?!" The Brit looked over to the pile where their coveralls and underclothes rested, only to find everything soaking wet. Even then, their clothes were still caked with oil, grease, black dust, and all of the messes that the group seemed to be naturally attracted to. "… Bloody hell…"

"Dead tired," Dittmar muttered. "We were _definitely_ dead tired…"

"Well, I think it's decided that we're gonna be making headlines tomorrow," Yeager observed with a smile that said he wanted to forget everything.

"Not for the reason any of us wanted!" Dittmar retorted, mortified like everyone else.

Brown thought for a bit before eventually shrugging. "Well, it doesn't matter," he opined. "We just need to make a mad dash and just get the thing over with." With that, he made to get out of his drum.

"Wait, whoa, whoa!" Yeager exclaimed while shaking his head in disbelief. Brown halted in confusion. "You can't just go out there swaggering without a care and having your dong waving around for all to see, Brown! There's got to be a better way!"

Brown raised an eyebrow, as though lost. "But, like I said earlier, it doesn't matter," he repeated. "If we get this done quickly enough, then we're in the clear." He then made to get out again. "And besides, you won't know if we even run into someone-wait, whoa…" He changed gears when he felt his drum start to stagger and tilt, and he instinctively stopped his movements.

Because of shifting his center of gravity, Brown had inadvertently upset the balance his drum had on the cinder blocks it rested on, which caused it to start to topple over.

"Uh," was the oh-too-brief response out of Dittmar's mouth when he saw what was coming. Brown's drum toppling over ended up causing a chain reaction that took all of the other drums down with it, sending them all to the ground as well with a huge smash and splash as the water gushed out of all the drums like torrent rapids.

After all of the water left the drums, everyone remained silent for several seconds as they digested what the hell just happened. They all remained within their drums in varying states of discombobulation.

"Well…" Yeager finally broke the silence. "Looks like we're out of the frying pan now… and into the fire… Hehe…" He cracked an amused grin at the end.

" _Gott,_ of all references, you choose that one," Dittmar deadpanned.

"Hey, just because _I_ love that song doesn't mean _you_ have to automatically hate it!" Yeager retorted, still amused from his reference-making.

"Well," Brown spoke up as he laid on his back. "At least you weren't the one to screw us over. Hehe, my bad, mates…" The Brit in the group found it just a tiny bit humorous that it was his own doing that screwed everyone over.

"Bah, I don't mind," Yeager waved off in forgiveness. "Besides, don't we generally find ourselves in a lot worse trouble when we're actually working?"

"Very true," Reitsch nodded his agreement, though he didn't get anything else out before a loud sneeze was heard.

"Ugh, _verdammt,_ " Dittmar groaned as he wiped at his face with his arm, having just sneezed. The sudden lack of hot water was starting to take its toll. "I think we should find some way to solve this little problem of ours before we all get sicker than dogs."

"Hey, maybe someone might pass by and we can ask them for help," Brown suggested as he crawled out of his drum and stood up to check their surroundings. "We're close to the old club buildings, though, so we might not get so lucky for someone to come help."

"That's exactly why the baths were built here, I think," Yeager informed as he crawled out from his own drum. The baths were built on the outskirts of the grounds for the old club buildings that had long since been abandoned. The American spotted something, though, as he squinted. "Oh, wait up!"

Brown spotted it too. "Oh, isn't that the girl obsessed with tanks?" he wondered as he saw Yukari walking down the center street of the old club building complex. She had her unique utilitarian backpack with her, as she always seemed to. Her reputation of being prepared for anything preceded her.

"Her name's Yukari," Yeager shook his head in disbelief. "Jesus Christ, I can't believe you still don't know the names of all the combatants."

"Well, can you blame him?" Reitsch inserted. By now, he and Dittmar had also come out of their drums, though Dittmar was already shivering from the sudden exposure. "Technically, you're the only combatant among us, Yeager, so only you are required to know all the combatants by name."

The American test pilot rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah," he sarcastically replied, but conceded their point anyways. He then brought himself back to the matter at hand. "But moving on, how do we get her attention? 'Cause we sure as hell can't call out to her. Otherwise we'd draw way too much attention."

The others lowered their heads to think for several seconds. Finally, Brown raised his head. "Hey, what about those baseballs from the Emergency Self-Defense Equipment suite?"

"You're _not_ decapitating her!" Yeager immediately shot down with a glare.

The Brit among them rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine," he conceded. "How about a rock?"

" _Pebble!_ " the American was sure to specify.

"Yes, yes, a pebble…" Brown rolled his eyes again. "Can I get on with it or not?"

Yeager looked at the Brit for a moment before finally nodding his head. At that go-ahead signal, Brown scooped up a handful of pebbles from the ground in one hand and moved to bring Yukari within his line of sight.

"Here goes nothing, mate," the Brit offered some final words before he threw one of the pebbles at Yukari. The pebble missed its mark, which earned a few snorts of amusement from Reitsch and Dittmar. "Yeah, yeah, well can you blame me for missing? I'm not the one who has weapons experience."

Brown tried again with a sharp chuck of another pebble, but this one missed as well as it impacted the ground short of its target.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, let me-" Yeager began to interject, but Brown waved him off.

"No, I got this!" the Brit stubbornly insisted as he took another pebble into hand. He then launched it at his target again, this time hitting his mark.

But Brown hitting his mark had no discernible effect on Yukari, as the pebble landed in her extremely fluffy and naturally messy brown hair. The Brit raised an eyebrow at that, as did everyone else, but Brown tried again. He missed his next shot, but three more tries all landed within Yukari's hair, and as before, the tank guru's hair seemed to swallow up the pebbles and leave no impression to the young girl that she was ever struck by anything.

"Oh, for all that is holy! That achieved nothing but possible sexual harassment!" Brown raged in great displeasure of his success/failure. While he hit his target, many times at that, it didn't even matter since Yukari wasn't even alerted to the pebbles hitting her.

"Aaaaand she's gone…" Yeager noted with disappointment. "Well, if I can say one thing, that is some damn fluffy hair. I imagine there's no need for a pillow at night with hair like that."

"Hey, guys!" Dittmar beckoned as he pointed into the distance again. "There's the sleepy tank driver!"

"Goddammit, guys, are you all so behind on your names?" Yeager questioned with an incredulous expression. He then shook his head and looked over to where Dittmar had pointed, and the one and only Mako was indeed walking past the old club building complex looking just as sleepy as always. "Nevermind. But, yeah, there's Mako. Though she's looking quite tipsy."

Without waiting for anyone to say it, Brown took the liberty of throwing more pebbles in an effort to get Mako's attention. The first one missed, again, but the second one hit. Though due to Mako's dizzy and unstable manner of walking, the impact of the pebble was enough to send her toppling down to the ground with a hard slam.

"Holy hell, what the bloody fuck did I do?!" Brown freaked out at the sight and tried to move to help by instinct.

"Calm the fuck down, Brown!" Yeager demanded as he held the Brit back. "Calm down and just look!"

The entire group saw how Sodoko, strangely also around the area, started picking up Mako and supporting her.

"I will never understand how those two always manage to find each other," Reitsch observed.

"I'll never comprehend just how that girl manages to push on with absolutely no energy," Dittmar brought his voice into the mix.

"Yeah, that should be just about impossible," Reitsch agreed. "She's basically the human equivalent of dry starting an engine every single start."

"Or trying to take off with maximum propeller pitch," Dittmar added.

"Aaaand they're gone…" Brown observed when Sodoko escorted Mako away from the area. "And they didn't even bother to investigate…" He then turned to Yeager. "Okay, give me the baseballs now."

"Throwing more shit at people isn't gonna work!" Yeager denied. He then fell back into his own thoughts, using his engineer mindset to try and engineer their way out of their problem. Looking around for ideas, he saw that there was almost nothing they could use without either causing injury or grave humiliation. Well, okay, Yeager was desperate enough by now to allow grave humiliation to occur, because he was also starting to feel the onset of a cold. Looking around one last time, he thought of the drums, about how they were scattered about but all laying on their side. The American took a foot and idly kicked one with a tap of his foot to send it into a small roll. His eyes lit up when the realization hit him. "… Wait, I've got it!"

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Gott,_ why did you have to fall asleep in the middle of it?" Erich complained from beside Miho as the two made their way to school. "It was so awesome! And you ended up missing the best part!"

The light brunette girl chuckled softly, marveling at how energetic the blond-haired ultra-ace was that morning. And knowing that the sight of Erich actually being full of energy in the mornings was almost a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Miho also cherished the moment. She knew she would never forget that rare moment where _she_ was woken up by the blonde, already fully dressed in his usual school outfit and ready to head out. Usually it was the other way around. Because they had both left rather early for school, they chose to take a more scenic route, which led them to their current area by the old club building complex.

"Yes, so you keep saying," Miho responded with a pleasant smile on her face as she shifted her bag on her shoulder. The light brunette _Panzer_ ace's school uniform ruffled slightly from a slight breeze that day, which only served to relax the young girl's consciousness even more. Life was just great at that moment.

"But still!" Erich insisted in his own childish way. "You missed movie night!"

"I didn't miss it," the girl countered as she looked to the blonde with a playful leer. "I was there, was I not?"

"But you fell asleep in the middle, therefore you missed it!" the ultra-ace argued as he gesticulated wildly.

Miho rolled her eyes affectionately. "Okay, so I fell asleep in the middle," she admitted. "You want to spoil the rest for me?"

"Fine, since you are so interested," Erich sarcastically said, but he had a smile on his face as well. "Well, after you fell asleep, the rebels rejected the peace proposal and launched an all-out partisan campaign with the help of the main character's provision of aerial recon. But the recon got intercepted by the occupation force's fighters which started a dogfight. And then, just when the enemy captain got a bead on them, the recon pilot pulled a tight barrel roll and used their pistol to quickly shoot the enemy at the top of their barrel roll while the enemy passed underneath. _Gott,_ now I want to try that so badly for myself!"

"A barrel roll, huh…" Miho noted, though she wasn't really paying much attention. She was still enjoying the state of bliss she was in.

Suddenly, Erich stopped and looked around. "Wait, did you hear that?" he asked.

"Huh?" Miho snapped out of her stupor and stopped to look at the blonde.

Erich strained his ears before he raised a finger and quickly interjected, "That."

Miho listened again and heard a distant rumbling that was getting louder. "You mean that?" she asked Erich while they both turned to the source of the sound.

The two of them saw four drums barreling towards them at a lightning fast speed. All four drums were on top of the pair in no time at all. Upon getting within meters of them, all four drums made abrupt turns to the left, so abrupt that their momentum kept the drums heading in their original direction, but the lack of rolling now made them all skid to a quick stop. One of the drums was unique in that it jerked upright at the same time as it turned left, which made the drum skid a bit before rolling on the edge of its flat end for a bit before it resolutely grounded itself upright with a slam.

Out of the open end, facing the sky, popped out Yeager with a grin of accomplishment, still wearing absolutely nothing, and in the other drums lying down it was assumed that the others of his little team of aerial engineers were the same way. "Y'all wanna have a drum bath with us?" he asked as if there was nothing wrong with that picture whatsoever.

Both Erich and Miho stared for a bit with wide eyes and blinked a few times in stunned silence. Then, Erich grew a highly amused grin. "'Do a barrel roll!'" he quoted the most appropriate line for what he just witnessed. He then seemed to remember he wasn't alone and quickly turned Miho away with a more sheepish grin. "How about we come back another time, huh?"

"I am going to scream," Miho warned just after Erich finished speaking, somehow using a tone that would not convince anyone she was about to scream. Her still-widened eyes begged to differ, however.

"You heard her. Move out!" Yeager ordered his small squad of drum-rollers. They immediately started to roll themselves away, the American bringing his own drum back down to the ground and rolling to follow.

"Wait, take me with you!" Erich tried to follow, evidently knowing that Miho wasn't kidding with her warning, but the light brunette girl held him back with a vice grip. "No! Don't leave me!"

But even though the four drum-rollers managed to get away in time to avoid the worst of it, they still managed to hear Miho's unbelievably loud banshee-like scream. All four Aeronautics guys silently sent their apologies to Erich, who without a doubt would have his ears bleeding after suffering exposure to _that_ kind of scream.

"Well, I'm calling it," Dittmar muttered to himself as he rolled his own barrel along from within. "There'll be an article tomorrow about this. Hopefully it'll be interesting enough to dispel the embarrassment."

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	109. Kapitel 20,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Zwanzig: Nach der Wartung, es muss ein Bad sein!**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Wolfsrudel**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The sun had recently set in the western skies, and the dead of night came upon the North Atlantic like a black hole, extinguishing all the light that remained from the sun's rays.

The only light that could not be extinguished was the light coming from the deck of the _Graf Zepellin,_ the massive school ship that housed Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium. Despite the sun setting, activity seemed to escalate even further aboard the German ship.

And upon the sight of numerous, numerous red and green lights rising into the night sky that quickly filled up with the sounds of large-displacement piston engines running all-out, it became easy to deduce why activity seemed to be at an all-time high: a large formation of aircraft had taken off.

The amount of fighters gathered in the climbing German formation heading west numbered in the dozens. Among them were several of the workhorse Bf 109s, mostly of the G-14 variant but also including some of the F-4 type and two G-6s; a similarly large number of the high-altitude stop-gap Fw 190Ds of the D-13 variety; a single Ta 152 H-1, a dedicated high-altitude fighter succeeding the _Dora;_ and a handful of He 219 A-7 night fighters.

For this outing, modifications were carried out for many of the German fighters to better carry out their objectives. The two Bf 109 G-6s each mounted the FuG 350Z _Naxos_ radar detector in a pod, similar in appearance to a drop tank, under the fuselage, in addition to two underwing MG 151/20 cannons in the underwing tubs that were hated by practically the entirety of Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ due to their negative impact on performance. Though hardly of the same performance as their previous configurations, the two Bf 109 G-6Ns were infinitely more utilizable with all their additions when the sun was no longer up.

The numerous G-14s and the handful of _Friedrichs_ were hardly modified at all save for the mounting of a single 250 kg bomb underneath their fuselages, though their load paled in comparison to the _Doras,_ which each had a single 500 kg bomb under the fuselage in addition to four 50 kg bombs, two under each wing. The He 219s were modified with a revised armament suite, consisting of four cannons mounted in a fairing under the fuselage plus two more cannons mounted in the wing roots. The wing root cannons were MK 108s, and the fuselage cannons included an equal mix of MG 151/20s and MK 103s.

"Listen up, everybody. I have some words for you before we get into this," came the resolute voice belonging to Schwarzwaldspitze's _Geschwaderkommodore,_ Isabel-Justina Hartmann. She sat on point in the leading _Kette_ within her black tulip-decorated Bf 109 G-6 waiting for all incessant chatter over the radio to cease. After it did, she spoke again. "The bloody Atlantic has claimed countless victims over the course of both _Weltkriege,_ on each side. Tonight, we pay tribute to that heroism. Those deeds have not been forgotten, nor should they be. They serve as an ample warning to us younger generations in today's world, so heed that warning well tonight." The black-haired then grew the slightest of smirks. "Happy hunting."

" _You looked up 'Wolfpack' on the internet, didn't you,_ " Erika's voice that somehow blurred the line between mature and childlike interjected afterwards over the channel. " _And yet you said you weren't interested in my music!_ "

Isabel tossed an amused glance to her left where her younger sister's own black tulip-adorned _Gustav_ had pulled up to be even with her own. "I never said such things, my power metal-loving sister," the black-haired teen replied while looking across the skies to her blond-haired junior. "All I said was that you would go deaf one day if you kept listening to those Swedes."

" _Deaf, maybe,_ " Erika allowed as she drew back her 109 to its previous position of behind and to the left of Isabel's 109. " _But learning history while at it!_ "

With that, the entire formation continued on its route westward, led by the two black tulip-decorated _Gustavs_ and the sole Ta 152 that occupied the starboard side of the _Kette._ On the flanks of the lead _Kette_ were the _Uhus_ to the starboard side in two _Rotten,_ and to the port side were the handful of _Friedrichs,_ also organized into two _Rotten._ Scattered about behind were several _Rotten_ filled with more _Gustavs_ and a plethora of _Doras._ In all, there had to be at least fifty fighters, if not more. It was hard to tell for certain, but what _was_ certain was that the sheer numbers made the aerial contingent appear daunting to anyone who dared oppose it.

Further west in the North Atlantic was yet another school ship, this one being the _HMS Ark Royal_ that housed St Gloriana High School. The prestigious British school was about as relaxed as it could get, as almost all of the British students aboard were partying in an obscenely elegant manner, such that it could be assumed that it was a party destined to take place in Buckingham Palace.

Almost all were in the partying mood, except for a few people that couldn't party if they even wished to. One such person was Dolores, a Scottish girl with wild blonde hair that reached down to the middle of her back and eyes as blue as the sky. Relatively average in height though with smaller 'assets' than her peers, the young Scottish lass had stayed cooped up in the _Ark Royal's_ main radar room monitoring the electromagnetic spectrum. That is, she was using her natural talent for electronics and scanning the area around the ship using the radar, along with listening into any radio frequencies she managed to tap into. While also part of the ground crew for St Gloriana's Fighter Group, her talents weren't put to waste by keeping her in a solitary role. For hours, she heard nothing but the radar's constant sweeping as nothing came up on screen.

Until now. The partying would have to be put on hold not just for her, despite not having the opportunity anyway due to her current duties, but also for the entire ship. Her face went pale as a ghost when she read the radar screen again and got back several dozen return signals, coming ever closer to the ship itself from the east. Only one thing could result in such a high number of returns coming from the same direction: an attack. The young Scottish lass dashed over to a phone on the wall that served as a hardline connection to the bridge and picked up the receiver. "Imminent attack!" Dolores relayed the information over the hardline connection. "East! T-minus five minutes!"

She set the phone down immediately after and tried to regain her breath from that scare. How lucky for them that St Gloriana got attacked when they least expected. After several seconds, she heard the intercom chant the words to put the whole ship on alert, " _General quarters! General quarters! All hands man your battle stations!_ "

 _To their own shore!  
Came the World War!  
HMS Ark Royal coming from the west!_

And then utter pandemonium ensued aboard the _Ark Royal_ as everyone reacted to the announcement in clear surprise. Caught by surprise, indeed. Finally, after a brief moment to vent their surprise, everyone proceeded to do just as instructed, and head to their battle stations.

"My girls!" a dashing blonde projected her calm yet confident command to her own contingent. "Get to the hangars!" The young Englishwoman otherwise called Augusta had blonde hair done up into a bun that was so elegant that it made her seem aristocratic by appearance alone. A few locks of the blonde hair hung down her back like a curtain all the way to mid-back, and she had deep blue eyes as well. Augusta was somewhat short for her age, though that didn't impact just how beautiful most of the school's populace considered her.

Upon reaching the hangars, Augusta had the entirety of St Gloriana's Fighter Group fully prepared to take action as the ground crews got to work on readying the school's arsenal of aerial weaponry. Most of the fighters belonging to the British school were Spitfires, predictably. The great majority of the Spitfires present were early variants that used Merlin engines with only a single-stage supercharger, like the Mk IIa to specify St Gloriana's in particular. There were a small number of Spitfires that were different, though, as they had an obvious change of engine to a later two-stage supercharged Merlin engine. The modified Spitfires were the F Mk IX variant. Finally, there were a small number of Tempest Mk Vs, one of which was Augusta's personal steed as the Group Captain.

 _Won a short fight quick  
A long trip back  
O'er the great big pond_

It was quite the wake-up call for St Gloriana that night, as they weren't expecting anything like an attack after sunset. They were otherwise occupied celebrating an easy victory over Canada's Maple High School, and had planned to take a relaxing break as they steamed over the Atlantic back to Britain in preparation for their next fight.

 _Fighters, tanks, and great ship coming  
From far in the west_

Much of the school had kept up with the rest of the first round's fights for the tournament. Hence, the school's combatants were well aware that they were taking on Germany's pride the next round: Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium. But they figured there was more than enough time to prepare, which partially explained the overall mood of relaxation aboard the ship.

 _And over the North Atlantic  
Lies the silence  
Of the seas_

The North Atlantic had nothing worth a lingering gaze, especially at night. So there was no way anyone could possibly be gazing at the scenery, as there was no scenery to admire whatsoever. Just miles and miles of seemingly endless water. The only disturbance to the dead silent darkness of the ocean was the _HMS Ark Royal_ steaming along.

 _And on the quietest night  
In the darkest hour  
Ol' Schwarzwaldspitze appears!_

And surprise surprise! It was under those conditions that Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ commenced a large-scale surprise attack. It was really nothing too different from the usual tactics practiced by the German school, as they had a penchant for striking fast and hard at the point they were least expected.

 _Though from the surface it seems quiet and calm_

The blackness of night remained as dark as it was any other night. If no one knew better, it could be assumed that the darkness was safe.

 _Holding above, the Wolfpack lurks_

However, everyone aboard the _Ark Royal_ did know better. It still didn't provide any comfort when they heard the sounds of aircraft engines surface, both from their own fighters starting to respond as well as the German fighters that came ever closer.

 _No, NO, NOOOOOOOOOO!  
To their own shore!  
Came the World War!  
HMS Ark Royal coming from the west!_

Above at roughly 20,000 feet, the large German _Geschwader_ had arrived with no opposition. The _Messers_ and _Doras_ so equipped with them released their bombloads from their high altitude. They didn't bother with dive-bombing to ensure strikes, as the raid was merely meant to cause disorder, not to destroy any particular objective.

 _In their fore track!  
Came the Wolfpack!  
Now the Ark Royal's caught in the hornets' nest!_

Flashes of fire appeared from down below as the bombs struck the top deck of the _Ark Royal._ A few lucky bombs struck around the hangars, delaying the British fighter response with the panic that swept through the British ranks from danger close.

Several of the British fighters were already airborne, though, as they received ground instructions to locate the German fighters in the black of night. It was times like these that Lynnette, the second-in-command of the Fighter Group, really wished the school had gotten a Mosquito.

But the young Englishwoman dismissed that thought, for it was unnecessary at the moment. She had a Spitfire F Mk IX to fly. Though caught off-guard by the attack like her comrades, the girl had kept a calm demeanor throughout the initial shock. Lynnette had blonde hair put into a braid either resting on her left shoulder, as it was currently, or hanging down to the middle of her back, and blue eyes that, with the help of her clever mind, helped her to see what others normally wouldn't see.

That did not strictly mean she had night vision, however. That was a fact made increasingly clear when many of her comrades were getting shot down in scores by the German He 219s, which had an extreme advantage in the lack of light with their _Lichtenstein_ radars. So Lynnette simply flew to survive, and that was all that occupied her mind from then on as she did her best to endure the Schwarzwaldspitze aerial onslaught.

 _At the crack of dawn  
The second day  
Top deck's all in flames_

After the attack had come and passed, St Gloriana gathered reports as to what damage had been suffered. Some of it was relatively obvious, like how there were still some small isolated fires scattered across the ship's top deck that could be seen even as the sun began to rise. The fires were either from the bomb strikes or from British fighters that were still burning after being shot down and crashing on the top deck.

 _Half their fighters gone or disabled  
Unprepared for more_

After all was accounted for, the British school found itself with only half of its initial number of fighters. There was no way that they could fend off any future attacks while so understrength, so the repair and recovery of their fighters was prioritized over readying remaining fighters back to ready status. Augusta disregarded that order, however, and ordered all remaining fighters to be ready to take off within two minutes of an alert.

 _But still in the North Atlantic  
Using surprise  
To their gain_

Just as the night before had instilled within them, everyone felt very unnerved by how calm the North Atlantic was. They did not feel calm at all like the ocean seemingly wanted them to be. Instead, they believed the calmness of the waters was merely a false sense of security, hence the somewhat conflicting orders among the British regarding their fighters.

 _For the second time!  
In the broad of daylight!  
Ol' Schwarzwaldspitze returns!_

Obscured by the sun partially since it was the middle of the day, another air raid by Schwarzwaldspitze was on course to intercept the _Ark Royal_ yet again. The He 219s were left behind this time, as they were at the disadvantage in the daylight. In their place were some more Fw 190 D-13s. Otherwise, the formation remained much as it was the previous night.

 _The Wolfpack descends for a second time_

This time, though, the two _Gustavs_ adorned with black tulips led the attack directly. They were now back to their original day fighter status, which meant the _Naxos_ radar detectors were gone as were the hated underwing tubs with additional armament.

 _To make Ark Royal face its fate_

" _Alles klar,_ " Isabel gave the all-clear signal over the radio to the German _Jagdgeschwader_ to begin their attack. The plan this time around was much the same as it was the previous night: cause chaos. However, with the advantage of the night gone, the _Doras_ that replaced the _Uhus_ remained in the pure fighter role. The _Friedrichs_ took on the air superiority role as well to aid in maintaining air superiority for the duration of the attack.

 _No, NO, NOOOOOOOOOO!  
To their own shore!  
Came the World War!  
HMS Ark Royal coming from the west!_

So as the Bf 109 G-14s and all but two _Rotten_ of Fw 190 D-13s began to release their bomb loads, the remaining two _Rotten_ of _Doras_ as well as the _Friedrichs_ and the two Bf 109 G-6s soared down lower and began to search and snuff out any enemy fighters.

 _In their fore track!  
Came the Wolfpack!  
Now the Ark Royal's caught in the hornets' nest!_

Again, the St Gloriana Fighter Group found itself nearly helpless in the wake of the Germans' renewed aerial onslaught. This time, though, at least those that remained were able to get airborne before the bombs began striking home.

 _Under fire!  
Under water!  
Now forty-two Spitfires have failed the test!_

That margin of preparedness didn't seem to help, though, as two Spitfires were almost immediately felled by the two _Gustavs_ belonging to Isabel and Erika, cutting through the British fighters like hot knives through butter. All of the British fighters were quickly swarmed by the remaining German fighters that held all the advantages.

 _To their own shore!  
Came the World War!  
Graf Zepellin leads Ark Royal into death!_

The aerial attack was progressing much like it did the previous night. Augusta and Lynnette were deliberately avoiding combat wherever they were at the disadvantage, and most certainly avoiding any possible combat with the two Hartmann sisters.

" _Behalte ihren Energievorteil!_ " Isabel made sure to emphasize to the rest of the _Jagdgeschwader_ over their channel to retain their energy advantage. The German fighters had all of the advantages over the British currently, particularly that with energy, but the black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ knew how easy it was to get sucked into a turn-fight and lose that energy advantage when one grew overconfident.

Though some people did not bother heeding that order, namely Isabel herself, Erika, and Hanna Jochen with her Bf 109 F-4. Those three girls didn't have to worry about losing the advantage, as they had the necessary skill and experience to easily regain it. And their foes quickly learned this information, as well.

"Everyone, pay heed," Augusta beckoned over her own channel to her pilots, or at least what remained of them. The British Fighter Group was doing a much better job of surviving the onslaught this time around, though it was still like trying to resist an irresistible force. "The _Messers_ with a black number 1, a white number 1, and a yellow number 14 are _not_ to be engaged solo! Repeat, the _Messers_ with a black number 1, a white number 1, and a yellow number 14 are _not_ to be engaged solo!"

Lynnette barely managed to comprehend that as she jerked her Spitfire to avoid a close-in attack from Erika's _Gustav._ She just caught enough of a sight of the number painted on the side of it, and in response to that she immediately broke off her approach, just barely avoiding getting felled. The number on the side of the zoom climbing Bf 109 G-6 with the black tulip was a white number 1.

Erika briefly looked back to ascertain she wasn't being followed by that Spitfire F Mk IX before returning her gaze forward, her eyes set on a new target. The early-model Spitfire Mk IIa she spotted was in the middle of a left-hand turn, no doubt for the purpose of avoiding a previous attack. It mattered not, though, to the blond-haired ultra-ace, as she closed with the British fighter. She held her fire, waiting until she could nearly reach out with her hand to touch it before opening up her armament and swiftly felling the Spitfire. " _Noch ein Kratzer für Rotlila-Ein,_ " Erika broadcast to scratch one more victory for her callsign _Rotlila-Ein._

Elsewhere in the skies, Hanna was making her _Friedrich_ dance among a hoard of early mark Spitfires. Always the one to charge head-first into the biggest dogfight she could and still manage to come out unscathed, the master manipulator of energy pulled an extremely sharp turn with the aid of flaps in her Bf 109F marked with a yellow number 14. Quickly acquiring target and judging the necessary amount of deflection, which was a lot, she fired a brief burst at one Spitfire, taking it down. " _Füge noch einen Gelb-Vierzehn hinzu,_ " Hanna broadcast to add another victory to her callsign _Gelb-Vierzehn._

As the blonde obsessed with perfection evaded an incoming attack with relative ease, that was when her aggressor was shredded to pieces at the hand of Isabel, who swept through with high energy before going back into a zoom climb. The _Gustav_ marked with a black tulip as well as a black number 1 then doubled back to take Augusta's Tempest below by surprise. The British Group Captain was not completely taken aback, however, as she caught the black-haired ultra-ace just early enough to break away from her attack.

Isabel did not bother pursuing, instead preferring to ride out her dive and recycle her energy back into another zoom climb. " _Karaya-Ein an alle. Achte auf die Kanonen bewaffneten Jäger!_ " she broadcast from herself, _Karaya-Ein,_ to Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ over the radio to watch out for the cannon-armed fighters. That was the very reason she broke off her attack, as she saw out of the corner of her eye that a Spitfire F Mk IX was trying to close with her. So she had chosen to break off her attempt to take out the Tempest in favor of diving away from the Spitfire, which was relatively easy to do with a 109. It would've been unwise to be caught in a vulnerable position where she could suffer the swift wrath of those Hispano cannons.

After getting back to higher altitude via her zoom climb, Isabel scouted out the skies around her and was pleasantly surprised when she realized her order to watch for cannon-armed fighters only applied to two of them. It was a bit stunning, as she had believed there were more of those around than there seemed to be. But the black-haired teen didn't question it and simply thanked whatever deities that be for giving her their fortune.

Isabel figured that the British struggle wouldn't last for much longer, so she called Erika and Hanna to disengage and come to her location. Following that, she ordered a general retreat for everyone else, with her, Erika, and Hanna providing cover to make the retreat possible. When she found out what was happening, Hanna immediately asked what was going on. Isabel could tell from her tone that she didn't very much enjoy being called off, but the black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ simply said that it wasn't worth the time and effort anymore to attack a gravely weakened enemy.

 _One-oh-nines make first contact to lead them  
Two-nineteens score some kills in the dark_

The after-action report from the nighttime raid included how the 109s belonging to Isabel and Erika had made contact after their _Naxos_ radar detectors picked up on the disturbances caused by the _Ark Royal's_ radar suite. The He 219s were able to easily see what was going on in the night sky, hence their relatively high kill count that night.

 _One-nineties claiming four on two occasions  
One-five-two suffers engine failure_

A number of Fw 190Ds scored four kills that night, most of them close to ground where the outlines of enemy fighters stood out better against the _Ark Royal's_ top deck. The Ta 152, brought out for an operational test, unfortunately didn't participate in the fighting, having to turn back prematurely after the engine chose to be uncooperative.

 _Two one-oh-nines make first contact to lead them  
Two-nineteens score some kills in the dark_

In the daylight raid, the two _Gustavs_ adorned with black tulips led the attack personally, each achieving their own successes. The He 219s did not go up in that attack, as their usefulness would've been highly limited. While at night they could see the unseen for themselves and also direct friendlies to enemies they couldn't see, in the daytime none of that applied.

 _Four one-nineties claiming four on two occasions  
One-five-two suffers engine failure agaaaaai-haaaaain!_

In the daylight, the _Doras_ were even more successful. Four of them managed to claim at least four kills for themselves crossing over both attacks when all was said and done. The Ta 152 also took part in the daytime raid, but, seemingly cursed by bad luck, its engine blew again, forcing it to break off early. Such were the joys of operational testing for new equipment.

 _In their fore track!  
Came the Wolfpack!  
Now the Ark Royal's caught in the hornets' nest!_

To put it mildly, St Gloriana was stunned at Schwarzwaldspitze's attacks. Though absolutely unwilling to admit it, it didn't change the reality that the British had been disturbed out of their usual elegance. For one, their anti-aircraft gun network hadn't been able to take any enemies out. While they had done damage, as a number of German pilots could attest to, their fire was too inaccurate from their lack of calmness to fully bring down a single enemy.

 _To their own shore!  
Came the World War!  
HMS Ark Royal coming from the west!_

St Gloriana's Tank Battalion was untouched by the whole ordeal physically speaking, but they certainly felt the impact from the psychological perspective. The British tanks ended up heading into action earlier than first thought, in this instance to help out with recovery and rebuilding wherever possible. Some special non-combat modifications, not unlike those on the modified tanks collectively known as Hobart's Funnies, greatly aided the recovery effort.

 _In their fore track!  
Came the Wolfpack!  
Now the Ark Royal's caught in the hornets' nest!_

It was times like these that the prominent British saying 'Keep Calm and Carry On' could really be applied. Though coined during a war of blood-spilling against the Germans, the saying applied just as well to a modern wargame against the Germans, of such high intensity that the lines between game and reality were very much blurred. Whatever may happen to them, St Gloriana High School would keep calm and carry on.

 _Under fire!  
Under water!  
Now forty-two Spitfires have failed the test!_

Of course, it was easier for some to move on than it was for others. Such was the case for St Gloriana's Fighter Group, which had lost forty-two Spitfires – the vast majority of which were early marks, though all but one of the later Mk IXs were also lost – and all but one of their Tempests. Some of those fighters were lost in the most literal sense of the word, having been lost under the waves of the North Atlantic, while others were only temporarily put out of commission after having crash landed on the top deck.

 _To their own shore!  
Came the World War!  
Graf Zepellin leads Ark Royal into death!_

The British were absolutely galled to find out that this series of raids was merely part of some operational testing. The _Graf Zepellin_ chose to swing out far into the North Atlantic as part of the ship's first journey since being recently overhauled. To put it simply, this was simply one large game set up by the Germans to evaluate their top school's abilities once more.

 _Don't know what's waiting up above! (To their own shore! Came the World War!)  
The Wolfpack lurks, awaiting you (HMS Ark Royal coming from the west!)_

It was all a bit too close to resembling the struggle for the Atlantic in the '40s for the British to feel comfortable. The _Graf Zepellin_ used as a weapon on its first outing like the _Bismarck,_ the bracketing of the _Ark Royal_ with bombs that was much too resembling of the Fw 200 _Kondor's_ bombing runs that laid waste to over 300,000 tons of shipping, and the Wolfpack-like tactics used by Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdwaffe_ had made the prestigious British school feel a little bit self-conscious about how weak they seemed to look. And they would know, as they were famous for upholding appearances.

 _To follow or to bleed, it's time! (In their fore track! Came the Wolfpack!)  
For you to return, they decide! (Now the Ark Royal's caught in the hornets' nest!)_

When a possible retaliatory strike was brought up amongst the crowd, the always-sensible Augusta made it perfectly clear that they were not going to launch a counterattack on Schwarzwaldspitze, even though they were likely to get attacked by the _Graf Zepellin_ again. But she held fast to saying no, because the German fighters held the advantage of generally having a longer range than the British fighters did.

 _No! (Under fire!)  
Oh no! (Under water!)  
The Wolfpack's waiting for them! (Now forty-two Spitfires have failed the test!)_

Only the Tempests could make it to the _Graf Zepellin_ and back, as the Spitfires had not the range to make it there and back. And there were simply too few Tempests compared to the number of German fighters that could be mustered to intercept that it would just be a suicide mission if it were to ever occur. In short terms, the Wolfpack would rip apart anyone that dared to hunt after them before the hunters could land a single blow.

 _Too calm! (To their own shore!)  
You'll see! (Came the World War!)  
Out of your vision waits for yooooouuuu! (Graf Zepellin leads Ark Royal into death!)_

Besides, Lynnette had pointed out in support of the Group Captain's choice that Schwarzwaldspitze need not send their entire force to halt any attack that could be launched. They could've simply sent their top three aces to stop a counterattack dead in its tracks. Augusta continued along that train of thought by pointing out exactly who those three ultra-aces were and why to avoid them. The elder Englishwoman made a note to thank Dolores and her knack for intel gathering for acquiring the information she was about to use in a briefing of their foe's best.

There was _Gelb-Vierzehn,_ callsign for Hanna Jochen, who flew a Bf 109 F-4. Despite the _Friedrich_ being an older and less capable fighter compared to the bulk of Schwarzwaldspitze's arsenal, the young perfectionist made it work admirably. She was very dangerous due to her extreme talent for manipulating energy in that old _Friedrich,_ making herself capable of out-dogfighting even Spitfires. Highly unconventional by comparison to traditional rules in dogfighting, it was emphasized she not be allowed to catch one of them in her crosshairs for even a split-second, for she would pluck them out of the sky if given even the smallest of chances. She was just that good with shot placement. That didn't stop some from calling her a cocky bitch, however.

There was _Karaya-Ein,_ callsign for Isabel-Justina Hartmann, who flew a Bf 109 G-6. At her name, all of the elder members of the Fighter Group groaned in exasperation, for they had _plenty_ of prior experience with her. Her talents in dogfighting were no less than her talents in commanding others, and after suffering two highly successful attacks orchestrated by her hand, it was made clear she had plenty of skill as a commander. The British were told to not doubt her abilities as a pilot, because she was a sneaky, crafty, calculating fighter. She was always three steps ahead, it seemed. St Gloriana overall held a grudging respect for the one they had dubbed the Black Demoness. Originally an insult to her seemingly dark personality, it eventually became a borderline term of respect when the black-haired German teen had handed their asses to them on a silver platter.

Finally, there was _Rotlila-Ein,_ callsign for Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann, who also flew a Bf 109 G-6. Augusta was secretly glad that this was a briefing for just the Fighter Group, because she didn't hold much hope in the boys from the Tank Battalion to _not_ gawk at her. It was bad enough that they had already taken to calling her the Enchantress. But the Group Captain didn't necessarily disagree with that moniker, for Erika was a very alluring girl. It should've been logically impossible for someone like Erika to do the things she has done, one of which was brought up by a few people in the Fighter Group: how young she looked, seemingly too young to be allowed into the Arts of Warfare. Those dissenters had immediately shut up when they found out her history of having flown combat fighters for almost a decade already. Her traditional method of attack was the surprise attack, having long since mastered the art of surprise, and preferring to shoot when right on top of her foe, where she was guaranteed to not miss. She would seemingly appear out of nowhere, like magic. Her method of attack was so successful that one wouldn't even know what hit them until it was far too late.

After learning of their foes' capabilities… yeah, the Fighter Group could use a tea time right about now.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	110. Kapitel 21,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Einundzwanzig: Der amerikanische Weg**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Es ist Weihnachten in Saunders!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey, whatcha got there, _Miholein?_ " Erich curiously asked as he approached Miho.

The light brunette _Panzer_ ace was standing by the table in their shared apartment sifting through a package when she heard her companion's inquiry and briefly turned her head to look over her shoulder at the blonde. She smiled and turned back. "Saunders sent us a package with some interesting stuff inside," Miho responded as she held up a calendar to inspect.

"Oh?" Erich raised an eyebrow. He came up behind the light brunette to get a closer look. "Like what?"

"Well, there's this calendar," Miho shook the calendar in her hand to emphasize. "Plus there's also a flash drive in there. We'll have to find out later what's on it." She then flipped open the calendar to the first page. "So you want to see what this calendar is all about?"

"Sure," the blonde shrugged as he observed from over Miho's shoulder as they both dived into the calendar.

The first calendar picture was one of Kay, Naomi, and Alisa on top of one of Saunders' numerous _Shermans._ The American tank had a gun barrel that had 'Saunders' painted on it in white, reminiscent of the famous _Fury Sherman._ The three American tanker girls were perched atop the tank with confident poses. Kay was perched on the hull crouching right next to the gun barrel, while Naomi and Alisa were on the turret standing through the open hatches.

The next portrait was, again, of Kay, Naomi, and Alisa. This photo was far more indecent in nature, as the three girls stood facing the sunset and away from the camera, wearing nothing more than the bottom garment of a bikini and with their arms around each other's backs as they looked back to the camera. Kay, in the center of the trio, was the only one that looked like she enjoyed that shot, as Alisa had a face tinged with the red of embarrassment while Naomi was just nonchalantly blowing a bubble with some gum. One small detail that Erich almost immediately caught sight of was how there were letters written across the girls' backs with sunscreen that, when read from left to right, read 'Saunders.' Alisa had 'SAU' on her back – the blond-haired German snorted in amusement at that, as _Sau_ was also the German word for a female pig and sometimes used as a prefix for rather creative insults, which earned him a smack from his companion – while Kay had 'NDE' on her back and Naomi rounded it out with 'RS' on her own back.

The next picture was mostly of Kay, as the other two girls were in the background doing their own thing. Kay was photographed up close as she removed her sunglasses while giving a wink. All in the photo were in the Saunders _Panzerkraft_ uniform somewhere near some shrubbery.

Another photo only included Kay in the same Saunders _Panzerkraft_ outfit, and she was crouched atop the hull of another M4 with her shirt ridden up, exposing her midsection. She held an arm up behind her head to seemingly quell her flowing hair from rippling with the wind, unsuccessfully though. Said arm was outside of her jacket, which allowed the garment to join her hair and ripple as the wind passed by.

The next photo put Kay in a skimpy cowgirl outfit, with a leather corset that nearly had her cleavage spilling out of her shirt. It didn't bother the American one bit, though, as she grinned and winked at the camera while toting a revolver with one hand.

Along those same lines, another photo had Kay in a skimpy waitress outfit this time, including a collar with a bowtie. She was bent over, being sure to expose as much of her assets to the camera as possible, while holding up a tray of cocktails with one hand.

Both Erich and Miho continued flipping through the calendar gazing at more pin-ups of Kay until reaching the final month, December. It was, predictably, a holiday-themed portrait, with Kay wielding a sack in one hand while waving to a crowd enthusiastically with the other hand. She had on that same skimpy Santa-like outfit that she always seemed to prefer to wear at that time of year. It included a relatively short skirt, an upper garment that only covered her upper abdomen and most of her cleavage, gloves that reached the middle of her forearm, a collar with a yellow bell, and a Santa hat, all in the same red color with white edges.

An awkward silence ensued between both Erich and Miho, as each comprehended exactly what they had just seen from the calendar.

"Well…" the blonde broke the silence eventually, as well as unceremoniously. "I'm assuming that was Kay's gift." He then looked over to the light brunette to find her blankly staring at the calendar's last portrait, as if broken from the onslaught of pin-ups. Erich gently pried the calendar out of her hands and shut it before putting it back on the table and grabbing the flash drive. "And I think this is what Chuck gave us. Let's see what's on this now. How about it?"

The light brunette blinked rapidly a few times before coming back to the world. "Oh! Yes!" she responded while pointedly keeping her gaze aimed anywhere besides the blond-haired ultra-ace in front of her, lest she feel even more awkward.

They both headed over to the computer in the corner of the apartment, where Erich occupied the chair and Miho stood behind him. The blonde plugged the flash drive in and, upon opening up its contents on screen, found a single video file within it. He opened the file and hit the play button.

Immediately, a ton of fanfare went off as horns blew while streamers and confetti rained down from above. Miho's hands went up to cover her ears the instant the horns started blowing, but Erich simply sat there and watched, completely unaffected by the noise. His hearing was already accustomed to extremely loud noises considering his preference to listening to heavy metal music.

" _MEEEEERRY CHRISTMAS!_ " the two heard the distinctively loud and boisterous voices of Kay and Chuck boom over the speakers. The camera then moved to display the two Americans themselves.

" _Hiya, Miho!_ " Kay waved to the camera with one hand while holding a few streamers with the other. " _And you too, Erich! You're watching this, too, I'm guessing. If you were forced to by your girl, then my apologies in advance for the struggle!_ " The blonde buxom American had on that same skimpy Santa-themed outfit she had worn in one of the calendar portraits, with one change: instead of a skirt, Kay had gone with a thong that had two white puffs like the one on the end of her Santa hat, one per side.

" _Anyway!_ " Chuck got them back on track. He was wearing a typical Santa outfit, albeit with the notable exclusion of the large white beard. Add to that his far more slender build compared to Saint Nick, and how the outfit was specifically tailored to such a body. " _Today, we're gonna show you our traditional Saunders Christmas party!_ "

" _YEEEEEAAAAAH!_ " all of the other party attendees cheered, clearly upholding the image of the wild party they were involved in. Over in the corner of the camera's view, it was possible to see Naomi and Christian clinking some glasses together, filled with who knew what. While it wasn't legal for the Americans to have alcohol below twenty-one years of age, it wasn't possible to determine if anyone at Saunders had managed to disregard that law and bring in some alcohol anyway.

It made no difference to Christian, as he immediately knocked his drink back, finishing it in one fell swoop. The two crack shots of the school also wore festive outfits like Kay and Chuck did, though they were more reserved than the two captains. Naomi had a simple red strapless dress to go with a bell that hung around her neck as well as her Santa hat. Christian, meanwhile, had on one of those godawful Christmas sweaters that nobody wanted as a gift, yet the brunette crack pilot didn't seem to mind that. In fact, he seemed to embrace how everyone cringed when they caught sight of the sweater, as if it was his plan to just troll everyone at the party with it. Nevertheless, he also had a Santa hat on.

"Well…" Erich began from his place watching the video, which had changed somewhat. While still seated in the chair, he himself was also being used as a chair by Miho, for whatever reason. "Seems the _Ami_ have to make Christmas ultra-flashy, too…"

" _So, Miho, Erich,_ " Kay said to the camera with all the pep of the party around her fully embracing her. " _We really wanted to invite you two here along with the rest of Ooarai, but unfortunately our ships were too far away from each other for you to just fly over._ "

" _We're somewhere around Hawaii right now, I believe,_ " Chuck specified the _USS George Washington's_ rough location. " _And I don't think your 109 can fly far enough to reach us, Erich, even with that triple drop tank setup I've seen a bit of._ "

" _So that's why we sent you this video!_ " Kay interjected again. She continued as she gestured around the place with one hand, showing nothing less than a full-swing party. " _That way, even if you guys can't come here, then you can at least enjoy the atmosphere!_ "

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, you getting all this, Ray?!" Chuck hollered over the noise of the party to Ray, who was recording the American Squadron Leader's actions with a video camera.

The American night fighter pilot took a second to stop chewing on a chicken leg to respond, "Yeah, I'm getting it." Ray was looking rather nonchalant about the whole ordeal, which was somewhat humorous when one got a look at his outfit. It resembled those worn by one of Santa's elves; green coat, pointy ears, and everything.

"Well, in that case…" Kay turned around to address the party. "Everyone! Let's all have a fucking blast tonight!"

"YEEEEEAAAAAH!" the cheers of agreement resounded from the other partyers. All except for Ray. He handed the video camera off to Alisa, dressed for the occasion in a strapless dress with multiple graphics adorning it that eventually came together to resemble outer space, with several stars and rings to stand out against the dark fabric of the dress.

"God…" Ray shook his head in exasperation before bringing up a fresh chicken leg to eat, leaving Alisa to deal with the video-making business. "I'm already fucking exhausted. Such is what happens when you get to put up with idiotic superiors whose favorite hobby is partying. Because only from one of their minds would the idea hatch to throw a party for _any_ reason at all." The American night fighter pilot took a bite out of his chicken leg before resuming his contemplations. "Besides, how is it that Kay isn't cold wearing stuff like _that?_ "

"Oi, Ray!" Chuck's voice called out before the American Squadron Leader's hand grabbed Ray's collar and dragged him over. "Get over here!"

Ray nearly choked on his chicken leg, but was somehow able to avoid doing so as his captain dragged him over for a picture.

"One, two, Saunders!" Chuck gave the count for the photographer to take the photo, which involved him, Ray, and Christian. The captain had his arms around the two in a brotherly way, while Ray uncomfortably smiled for the camera. Christian just stood there in an aloof manner with a cool grin that time and time again proved to immediately have girls fawning over him.

The photo was taken, and afterwards, Ray took the chance to run off, away from the invasive Chuck. He chose to make his way to the food table and become even more of a glutton than he was already being with his downing of chicken legs.

"Ah, food…" the American night fighter pilot moaned in delight. "Sweet, glorious food…"

As Ray reached for the chicken leg bucket, a pair of smaller hands plucked the entire bucket up from the table and walked off with it, which stunned the night fighter pilot a bit, until he saw who it was. He had to fight the overwhelming instinct to punch Kay in the face and instead with a scowl watched as she walked off with the entire bucket. The blonde buxom American didn't seem to notice anything amiss with her actions as she took three chicken legs and started to wolf them all down simultaneously.

And then came the orders from superiors. The night continued on with Ray being brought along to do favors or do something that either Chuck or Kay had asked of him, with neither of the commanders bothering to pay any mind to his wanting of just a moment to relax.

"Hey, Ray!" Kay called with a wave at one time. "Take one over here, too!"

"Yeah, I'm getting it," the night fighter pilot replied as he fiddled with a camera to take a photo of the _Panzerkraft_ Captain and the rest of the party.

Another time began with Chuck interjecting with a, "Hey, Ray, hold this for me please!" That was followed up with the Squadron Leader dropping a large box into Ray's awaiting hands.

"Yes, sir," the night fighter pilot automatically replied.

"Take this, too!" Kay came by and dropped several excess decorations into the box, the weight of which nearly made Ray double over with trying to keep the load held up.

And yet another time came the orders, which this time had Ray on a ladder by the large Christmas tree after Chuck had barked, "Ray, what are you doing?! Those decorations are way too thinly dispersed!"

"Yes, sir," Ray gave the automatic response as he continued to sling up ribbons and ornaments onto the tree.

Eventually, after getting that tree decorating business sorted out, Ray had enough of being a grunt. "Agh! God-fucking-dammit!" he snapped. "I can't even get a fucking minute just so I can _eat!_ " He then caught sight of Christian skulking his way out of the area while silently chuckling. "And of course, that slippery snake, Christian! He thinks he's so clever with sneaking away and making sure _I_ get all the dirty work!"

He then looked down into one of his hands, which held the video camera he was entrusted with to record the party. Turning it to face him, he calmed down rather abruptly and grew a dastardly grin.

"Well…" he began to contemplate as he looked into the camera, still recording, by the way. "Normally I would've boiled over and raged by now, and I would leave it at that."

"Hey, isn't it about time now?" a shorter fellow asked Ray, cutting him off from continuing his mantra.

"Yeah, okay, I'll be there!" the night fighter pilot quickly dismissed him, not even bothering to note that it was his usual radar operator he was talking to. Nevertheless, the shortie took the hint and left to go elsewhere.

Ray then turned his face back to the camera, still with that same grin of mischief. "But things are going to be _very_ different this evening…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, in a secluded area of the party where almost nobody went, Ray emerged in a completely different outfit. Overall, it was a typical Santa outfit, though there were some unusual additions, like spiked shoulder pads and a hockey mask. Also added to the ensemble were a hatchet that rested on his right hip in a Jerry-rigged holster and an M4 Carbine that had been slung over his right shoulder.

"All ready to carry out today's special event, Operation Charm Chucking, better known as Operation Bloody Saint Nick!" Ray announced as he saluted crisply.

"Hooah, Lieutenant Ray," Christian acknowledged with a nod. "Now we'll go over the operational plan!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the night fighter pilot stood at attention to be briefed.

"Now," the crack pilot began to brief in earnest, and Ray followed along mentally. "Disguised as jolly old Saint Nick, you'll infiltrate the house via the chimney, barge out from the fireplace, and then pass off the charming Christmas gift to the target! Then, firmly capture the moment the charm is a grand success on a spectacular photo. That's the plan, hooah?!"

"Hooah!" Ray confirmed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oh, I'm so looking forward to what kind of face Chuck'll make when I come down all guns blazing, hahahaha!" Ray rambled on aloud to himself as he waited around for the go-ahead signal. Not much time had passed since the briefing, only a few minutes. "That'll be the height of tonight's party, I'm sure of it… Maybe if I'm lucky I can find some girl fawning over me and make her mine…"

"Oi, it's about time, Ray!" Christian alerted from nearby as he brought his head back behind the corner he was peeking around.

"Understood!" the night fighter pilot saluted an affirmative. "Ray, moving out!"

"Good luck, and God speed!" the crack pilot returned the salute and wished good fortune.

Ray moved into position, getting to the top of the house quickly and onto the roof in no time at all. A few people accompanied him on the journey before they halted at the chimney, where Ray began to climb in with a sack over his shoulder.

"Good luck, and be careful!" one of those with him said as the night fighter pilot began to descend.

"Go take a peek at where the Squadron Leader is inside!" Ray requested before donning his hockey mask and holding his M4 Carbine at the ready. "I'll come in at the critical moment!"

"We'll be expecting you!" the other that accompanied Ray informed.

"All right!" the night fighter pilot began to descend in earnest. "Here we go!" And descend he did.

Until it all came to a slamming halt, literally. The walls of the chimney rapidly came down on Ray and halted him dead in his descent, putting him in the awkward position where he couldn't really move. At all.

"… Huh?" was the blank response from Ray initially. After squirming and trying to flex all the muscles in his body, he then started to panic. "Wait, what?! No! I… I can't be stuck!"

But the night fighter pilot knew it was no use denying it, because he indeed was stuck in the chimney. And perhaps the worst part in all that was that nobody noticed. To everyone inside and around the fireplace, there seemed to be nothing wrong. So the party raged on with its same intense vigor.

"M-Mayday!" Ray tried to report in. "Mayday! Fucking _mayday!_ Can anyone hear… Oh, fuck me! I didn't bring my phone!" He tried to move again in the hopes of trying to at least slide a bit in any direction, to no avail. "Dammit, what now? I can't head back up, nor can I slide down… Goddammit, I'm fucked! I can't slide down any farther than this…" The night fighter pilot finally sighed in defeat. "I'm finished… Might as well call for help."

' _But wait!_ ' a dissenting part of his mind thought. ' _If that happened…_ ' Ray's mind filled in the blank with an image of literally _everybody_ laughing at him, Kay the loudest of all. Also there was Christian who was simply shaking his head in disappointment, and it was easy to tell that it was disappointment in Ray himself.

"Just light up the fireplace and burn me alive…" Ray pleaded, even though nobody could hear him. "That'd be better than utter humiliation for all of eternity…" He remained silent as he silently begged for somebody to simply notice him and get help to get him out of his humiliating position.

He got his prayers answered, seemingly, when he heard someone call out below, "RAY!" His eyes shot downward as hope flooded through him.

"Ray!" Chuck called out around the party down below as he looked around for the black head of hair that belonged to Ray, to no success. "I haven't seen him around for a while now. Where'd he go? Raaaay!"

"Huh…" Christian hummed in response while he thought how to answer Chuck's question, soon coming up with a suitable answer that didn't give away anything he knew about Ray's current whereabouts. "Well, ain't that something. I don't see him, either."

Chuck soon tried calling Ray on his phone while Christian kept on subtly dissuading the Squadron Leader from finding out where the night fighter pilot went. "Maybe he just went out to get something real quick?" he offered as a suggestion. He kept his poker face like a champ.

"Well, fuck, I can't get a hold of him…" Chuck noted in disappointment as his call went to voicemail. He didn't take too much notice of Christian's assuring, as he was bent on trying to find Ray no matter what.

' _Why do I feel that he just wants me to do some more grunt work…_ ' Ray thought from his place stuck in the chimney as he listened to Chuck and Christian talking.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back before you know it," Christian continued his game of subtly dissuading Chuck. "So let's just keep on partying our asses off here and-"

"Wait, wait! Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_ " Chuck interrupted with a booming amount of incredulity in his voice. "What kind of words are those?!"

Ray turned his attention to listening again, hearing Chuck full well and curious about what he was up to now.

"What the fuck are we gonna do if he finds himself in a heap of trouble and we're not there to help him out?!" Chuck fired back at Christian.

The crack shot held up his hands in surrender, wisely choosing to concede to the Squadron Leader rather than continue trying to push him away from Ray's whereabouts. If he had continued his attempts, Christian knew that Chuck would eventually go look for Ray on his own, and that he wouldn't be able to be stopped.

Chuck switched gears and moved to gather everyone's attention. "Hey everybody, listen up for a sec!" he beckoned with a booming voice to the party. "Did anyone here see Ray within the last few minutes? Because I know Ray, and he's not the kind of person who just leaves without a word!"

"Huh?" Ray muttered in confusion bordering on shock at Chuck's sudden passionate speech. "What the hell is going on down there?"

"Chuck, come off your soapbox," Christian sarcastically begged his superior to just drop the subject. He deliberately chose to be sarcastic, when in fact it was a very real beg, to prevent Chuck from unearthing his part in the little conundrum that, with the Squadron Leader's calling, had become a big conundrum.

"I'll stay on my soapbox as I damn well please, which won't be when I'm still hopped up like this!" Chuck returned to the crack pilot. "Because Ray's one of our brothers-in-arms, and we don't just leave behind a brother!"

The night fighter pilot stuck in the chimney lost the ability to form words for a moment as he replayed the words of Chuck in his head, just to make sure he heard them right. Finally, he renewed his struggle to break free from his trapped position in the chimney, armed with the motivation he had taken from his Squadron Leader's strong words on camaraderie.

"Ngh… Come on!" Ray grunted as he squirmed a bit more, until he realized it wasn't necessarily _him_ that was stuck. It was just the clothing that was caught, which wasn't a surprise given how thick his outfit was. The night fighter pilot noticed that, and so he relaxed himself as he slowly but surely started to make his way out of the outfit, one twitch of his muscles at a time.

Ray soon got free of his outfit, which resulted in an unceremonious plummet into the fireplace. "Ow, fuck!" he grunted on landing. At least the fireplace wasn't lit, luckily for him. The night fighter pilot was now in just an undershirt, a pair of boxers, and his socks thanks to shedding his Santa outfit. "Oooooh, that hurts!" He recovered from the stab of pain very quickly, though, as he grew joyous from finally being free. "But I did it! I'm finally out!"

He was ecstatic at being free… until he looked up, and his heart leapt into his throat from the stab of fear he felt.

"Merry Christmas!" everyone at the party wished as they surrounded the fireplace. Everyone was wearing hockey masks and wielding weapons of varying nature at Ray, ranging from Beretta M9s to M4 Carbines to hatchets and even lightsabers and chainsaws. At the very front closest to Ray were Christian, Chuck, Kay, and Naomi. Christian had two Winchester Model 1887 lever-action shotguns, wielding one in each hand, Terminator style. Chuck had a sledgehammer, Naomi had dual Berettas, and Kay had a simple ball-pean hammer. But Kay's other hand held a far more devastating weapon to Ray: the video camera, recording him.

"Reverse Charm, a grand success!" Kay declared.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!_ " Ray's bellow of terror forced Miho to cover her ears yet again, which saved her from the sounds of all of Saunders' weapons going off as well.

Erich, as usual, wasn't bothered one bit by the sound. In fact, he looked giddy as he watched the rest of the video carry on as the partyers all chased down the fear-ridden Ray. "You know, now I _really_ want to head to one of Saunders' parties now," he opined. "Because they look _fun!_ "

"Yeah… 'fun,'" Miho left her reply as it was while she watched Chuck and Christian demask themselves and share a grand laugh beside a caught and soulless Ray. 'Fun' wasn't the word the light brunette would use to describe Saunders' parties. "Saunders sure throws… _interesting_ parties…"

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_ Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Act** **as.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	111. Kapitel 21,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Einundzwanzig: Der amerikanische Weg**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Schlacht der Ausbuchtung**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _Crack of the lightning splitting the ground  
Thunder is sounding  
Fighter-bombers pounding!_

Several explosions pounded against the ground and any nearby buildings like a tidal wave, catching a battalion-sized group using the famous M4 _Shermans_ greatly off-guard. The roaring of large-displacement piston engines overhead signified that part of the destruction was caused by aviation. However, it was also obvious, judging by the way some of the American tanks had been knocked out from shell impacts, that the other part of the destruction was via an attack with armor.

 _Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne  
Facing their forces alooooone!_

With the entirety of a German _Panzerabteilung_ about two thousand meters ahead of them as if they had planned on the Americans to come out into the open area around the city, the American tank battalion began to hastily retreat, knowing they were screwed if they tried to engage the superior German _Panthers_ and _Tigers._ It didn't help matters that the Germans had their aviation to assist them while the Americans had no such luxury, something not often experienced by them. That meant the American tank battalion was all alone in facing the German blitz.

 _Alone!_

"Dammit! Where the hell's our air support?!" the blond-haired blue-eyed, and relatively tall, commander of one of the _Shermans_ wondered aloud in the midst of pulling back from the line of fire. The distinct firing note of a 17-pounder cannon overrode his voice, and looking back, he saw the unique _Sherman_ VC of his Captain stop for a second to briefly return fire to the German _Panzers_ in an effort to reduce their numbers by at least one.

It was a foolish move, though, as the _Firefly_ was quickly obliterated by a multitude of _Panzers,_ such that it wasn't possible to ascertain who in particular had put it down. Nevertheless, the _Firefly's_ white surrender flag went up without discrimination as to who forced it to come up.

That was what the blonde tank commander that had witnessed the scene last saw before he dropped back inside his own _Sherman_ and barked at the driver, "Step on it!" Within a second of saying the word, the M4 began to book it out of the open and head west, deeper into Bastogne with the rest of the battalion.

 _Alone!_

"All callsigns, this is Lieutenant Kelly!" he began over the radio. "Captain's down! Repeat, Captain's down! I'm taking command now!" The now-Captain Kelly heard the distinct note of rubble dropping to the ground around his _Sherman_ as it drove on, no doubt from the German _Panzers_ shooting through the buildings to try and land a lucky shot before the opportunity passed. "Get back to the line!"

 _Sent to the skies, flown into the unknown!  
The march to the east has begun_

Things got to that point after the bulk of America witnessed the elite German school of Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium emerge victorious from the second round, putting the two countries up against each other for next round, the semifinals. Therefore, as the skies over Western Europe started to fill with American fighters of all varieties, it was time for the Americans to get down and dirty with the Germans and wage their war against them while waiting for the next round to come around. It was a typical American tactic: to grind down their enemy's numbers during the intermission period in hopes of being numerically superior by the time the ranked match came.

Plus, the Americans were all for playing dirty with the Germans, as long as the fighting was kept reasonably safe, in essence no grave injuries. It gave good practice to both sides for facing off against the notoriously dirty Russians, who were favored to reach the finals that year, so this fight between the Americans and the Germans would determine which of their arch-rivals the Russians faced this year. The Americans, being the overconfident people they were, boasted that they would meet the Russians at the Vistula River, and for them to not be late.

 _Spearhead the charge  
Surrounded by foes!  
Saunders is leading the way!_

Saunders High School found itself leading the rest of the American high schools into Belgium after disembarking from their school ship, the _USS George Washington,_ at Dunkirk, far from their destination and on land that previously housed the Germans during the intermission before they faced the British. As such, the Americans were immediately thrown into the fire, being attacked almost immediately after landing by German airstrikes. But, being the stubborn blockheads they were, the Americans persevered through the onslaught and pushed onward, with Saunders leading the charge.

 _France!  
Is still within Black Forest's hands!_

Martin, the Captain of Saunders' Tank Battalion, had soon become suspicious of Schwarzwaldspitze's endgame, as the elite German school's _Panzers_ had not yet been seen during the trek across France and into Belgium. But the tall, dark brunette dismissed the oddity after hearing that Jill, the short-haired brunette with the common tall American stature who led Saunders' Fighter Wing, had not experienced the same absence of Germany's elite up in the air.

 _Push!  
Schwarzwald retreat!_

As Saunders and the rest of the Americans continued to claw their way into Belgium in the face of German resistance, the role-model American high school knew they were also pushing back Schwarzwaldspitze, which only served to inflate their confidence. Perhaps they could have a party in Bastogne after they captured it with relative ease. That was the predominant thought among their minds as the American forces steamrolled all the way through the Ardennes and into Bastogne, with high hopes that they would emerge victorious from that city after the later official battle was over.

 _Thrown towards blizzards with bitter frostbite!  
They've stretched out, exceeded themselves_

But it seems history wasn't accurately taught to the Americans, for they found themselves not only having to deal with a bitter cold winter settling in, but also having outrun their supply lines. While they knew full well how cold the infamous Russian winters could be, they did not notice that the winter that descended on the Ardennes was one of the coldest in decades, the last of such frigid temperature being the winter that accompanied the Battle of the Bulge. Also preceding the 1944 German counteroffensive was the Americans outrunning their supply lines after driving from France to the Siegfried Line, leaving them vulnerable to attack. Not a single person within Saunders seemed to notice how they were walking into the very same situation again. All they noted was that it was cold and that, for whatever reason, it was proving difficult to get supplies to heal cases of frostbite.

 _Turn of the tide  
It's breaking away!  
Losing momentum, retreat!_

But Schwarzwaldspitze saw it when they observed Saunders' advance begin to slow down before reaching Bastogne, the role-model American high school ceasing to be the spearhead and letting the other Americans take over. The initial speed of advance for the Americans was rapid, but they had slowed down greatly as the winter started to grow more bitter and delayed the capture of Bastogne for several days. The elite German school just bided their time until the Americans ran out of steam, and then they began to strike. It was with a simple shaking of their heads that they had confirmed the Americans never learn.

Out in the open country leading up to Bastogne, the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerabteilung_ was impossible to stop. Their _Panzers_ were all too well-suited for long-range combat compared to the American _Shermans._ To deliver as potent of a strike as possible, Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ greatly changed tactics from their previous meager aerial harassment by descending to lower altitudes and carrying out airstrikes. The combined air and ground attack succeeded in pushing back the Americans, who were greatly surprised with the sudden display of power from out of nowhere.

 _Lock!  
Down Bastogne, the city must hold!_

Schwarzwaldspitze pushed the front line all the way to the outskirts of Bastogne, which pre-empted Saunders to hastily bring itself to a ready state in order to set up a defense. It might've been an ad hoc defense, but it was still a defense. Soon, it was revealed that if the Americans lost the city, then they would end up losing the chance to face the Russians in the finals. The officials liked to be unpredictable that way, to keep everyone on their toes. Needless to say that Saunders started to feel the pressure being put on them to not fail.

 _Stand!  
Alone in the cold!_

The coldest winter since 1944 brought with it a fierce thunder looming over the horizon, from both snowstorms and Schwarzwaldspitze aviation, and at that Saunders' tankers knew they stood alone against the German blitz. Saunders' fighters were at the disadvantage at low altitudes, as their workhorse P-38 simply wasn't meant to fight down close to the ground. By comparison, the German Bf 109s were superior at lower altitudes, though they did have a close equivalent in the few P-63s that Saunders also had. And if that wasn't bad enough, Schwarzwaldspitze had gathered even more Fw 190Ds than they had used in prior engagements, fighters that held all the advantages over the P-38 at every altitude. It was no surprise that the American fighters wouldn't dare tangle with the German fighters at lower altitudes, choosing to instead stick to the higher altitudes their fighters were optimized for.

 _Crack of the lightning splitting the ground  
Thunder is sounding  
Fighter-bombers pounding!_

Which brings everything back to the present day, where Saunders' _Shermans_ had to maneuver through a city that was in the midst of getting grinded to dust by enemy air power. It wasn't as quick a retreat as desired, as the _Shermans_ used were of the M4, M4A1, and _Sherman_ VC subtypes, which all used less powerful engines than the M4A3, the preferred _Sherman_ variant among American high schools due to its good mobility provided by its Ford GAA V8 engine. Saunders' _Shermans_ used either a Wright R-975 radial engine or, in the case of the M4A4 that served as the basis for the school's _Fireflies,_ a Chrysler A57 multibank engine, neither of which approached the power provided by the Ford engine.

 _Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne  
Facing their forces alooooone!_

Such sluggishness nearly cost Saunders some more of its tanks to Schwarzwaldspitze airstrikes. There was only just enough mobility in their _Shermans_ for the Americans to juke out of the way of falling bombs.

Up in the air at over 8,000 meters was where a fierce air battle raged on between the entirety of Saunders' Fighter Wing and a handful of Schwarzwaldspitze pilots, but the Germans still held the advantage despite being so outnumbered and with many of their fighters running ground strike duty. All but three of the German fighters were Fw 190Ds, fighters so blatantly obviously superior to the P-38s that they needed no numerical advantage to win. The three other 109s that came up to the extreme altitudes with them were piloted by none other than Isabel-Justina Hartmann, Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann, and Hanna Jochen, the three top aces of aces among Arts of Warfare fighter pilots.

 _Alone!_

"Give me a goddamn break with those damn Focke-Wulfs!" one pilot of a P-38F bemoaned as she caught sight of a German _Dora_ diving from above on her. The burgundy-haired American pulled up to meet the attack, coming close to colliding with the 190 but passing by with only a hair's clearance. The busty teen was still alive, though, so the risk was worth it.

Otherwise known as Charlotte, the blue-eyed American took a look around the clear skies to spot any enemies she may have missed during her evasive maneuvers. In typical American fashion, she had a pin-up painted onto the nose of her _Lightning,_ but perhaps most strange was that it was a pin-up of herself. Further back on the nose behind the pin-up was what the fighter was christened by its pilot: ' _Shining Charlotte._ '

"Hmph. Is that the best ya got, Isabel?" Charlotte grew her trademarked competitive grin when she spotted the Bf 109 G-6 with the black tulip nose and black number 1 on its side pull up into a hammerhead with a P-63 on her tail. Then Charlotte's mock-taunting stopped when she saw another 109 with a black tulip nose but a white number 1 line up the _Kingcobra_ and quickly dispatch it. It left the burgundy-haired teen speechless for a bit. "… Okay, now who's that little mini-me you have there? I don't think I've seen her before…"

 _Alone!_

" _Danke dafür,_ " Isabel radioed over to Erika her thanks for bailing her out of her sticky situation with the P-63.

The blond-haired teen made a sound of acknowledgment in response while she climbed higher up. She kept her head on a swivel to keep track of everyone's location, but she had to stop for a second when she saw one particular P-38 with some interesting nose art. Erika started to snicker at the sight of _Shining Charlotte's_ pin-up nose art. " _Alberne Amerikaner,_ " she commented on how silly the Americans seemed to her in that moment.

 _Dig your own trenches or fly your white flag!  
The storm is about to begin_

Down on the ground, it was do or die time for Saunders' Tank Battalion. In preparation for the imminent blitz of Schwarzwaldspitze, the Americans had hastily dug out some anti-tank trenches across the streets leading to their improvised line of defense. They could do so in relative peace, knowing that it would take time for the entirety of Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerabteilung_ to not only come into the city itself, which rested on a plateau and required the _Panzers_ to climb up the terrain, but to also maneuver through the town after their fighters reduced much of Saunders' retreat route to rubble. The German fighters themselves were out of the picture for the moment, as they had to fly back to base to rearm for another run.

 _The siege has begun  
There's nowhere to run!  
Panzerkampfwagen emerge!_

What went unforeseen at that time was that because Schwarzwaldspitze had to take a different route to engage Saunders, the Americans eventually ended up being surrounded. There was nowhere for them to go besides into the face of German _Panzers_ or to the crippled path of retreat they had taken, which was no longer traversable terrain for either side. In essence, Saunders had backed itself into a corner, lined with tank traps it might've been, but it was still a corner.

' _Perhaps it wasn't the most well-thought-out defense after all,_ ' Kelly thought. He was of such opinion now because of how he saw Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzers_ begin to arrive, particularly their two heavy _Tiger_ Is, numbers 212 and 217. Stories had circulated among the Americans about how those two _Tigers_ far exceeded the other German _Panzers_ in skill, hence why they were told to avoid them at all costs.

 _Tanks!  
And Jabos are shaking the ground!_

Closed in on all sides within the city, the Saunders Tank Battalion was subjected to a fierce tidal wave of firepower from the German _Panzers._ The ground shook violently with the explosions of bombs dropped from Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jabos,_ the fighter-bombers having arrived right on the mark to join in laying waste to the American tanks.

 _Prey!  
Of man and machine!_

Being the stubborn-headed people they were, the Americans did not cower in the face of the German blitz. Instead, they returned fire. They just didn't seem to know when to give up, as even though their numbers started to dwindle, they were bringing down the Germans' numbers along with them. One could say that was the American mentality, to never back down no matter how scary something looks. Even if it's the fifty-seven-ton heavy tank personification of scary.

 _Crack of the lightning splitting the ground  
Thunder is sounding  
Fighter-bombers pounding!_

Along with their usual loadout of M61 armor-piercing shells and M48 high explosive shells, Saunders also had access to M89 smoke shells for their 75 mm cannons, something they used to their advantage on numerous occasions. One rather clever way they used the smoke shells was by shooting them directly at the heaviest German armor, that being the _Panthers_ and the two _Tigers,_ to blind their optics. The _Panzer_ IVs and small number of _Panzer_ IIIs could be dealt with using their armor-piercing rounds, but the heavier German _Panzers_ could only be taken out by a _Firefly,_ of which only one remained for Saunders to be used sparingly. That explained their unconventional usage of their smoke rounds.

 _Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne  
Facing their forces alooooone!_

The German blitz carried on regardless, which only served to further reduce the city of Bastogne to rubble. Some of the destruction was caused intentionally by Saunders, as they used their high explosive rounds to try and shape the battlefield to their advantage. It was pointless for most of the Americans to try and shoot at the _Tigers_ and _Panthers_ with an armor-piercing round, as the German armor was simply too thick to penetrate for the 75 mm guns, so Saunders got creative yet again.

Eventually, Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzers_ started to pull back and disengage, but they still had the American tanks surrounded and under siege. Saunders had been proving more frustrating the more desperate they got, which made sporadic attacks nearly useless against them, as they would simply find a way to impede the attacks for enough time to bring the rest of the battalion to their position to reinforce.

 _Chill of the winter, bite to the bone  
And New Year's already here_

So Schwarzwaldspitze sat back and waited until their _Jabos_ were ready to deliver another strike, with the plan to strike on land simultaneously with the air attacks. Until that happened, there was relatively little action, only the brief sporadic foot engagements between recon detachments. The lack of action brought up the issue of the bitter cold winter for the Americans, which continued to give them trouble.

 _Tankers are freezing  
Casualties increasing  
They cannot take much more_

Saunders had been experiencing frostbite for some time, but it was now getting so bad that some members had to be withdrawn from the fight and evacuated from the city to get treatment. It was impossible for supplies to reach the encircled American tanks, due to the horrid snowstorm, the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzers_ blocking the way to the outside world, and from Schwarzwaldspitze fighters being able to intercept any airlift attempts.

 _There's no surrender, there's no retreat!  
Black Forest is drawing near_

The role-model American high school knew they would never surrender if they could help it, but they also knew that there was no path of retreat for them anymore, having been completely surrounded by the Germans. The only option they had left was to fight back against Schwarzwaldspitze when they inevitably charged again.

 _There's no reinforcements  
They're fighting all aloooooooooone!_

With the loss of more and more of their own to severe frostbite, Saunders' Tank Battalion was taking permanent hits to its combat strength, seeing as there was no way for them to reinforce their numbers after being encircled. And with Saunders' Fighter Wing still tied up with the best of Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters, the tankers had to find some way to repel the German blitz all by themselves.

Further up above the weathering snowstorm, the air battle between Saunders' Fighter Wing and Schwarzwaldspitze's elite few was still raging on strong. The total losses suffered thus far were not very high, but almost all of them were on the American side, with only one German Fw 190 D-13 being lost.

The plan for Schwarzwaldspitze was to tie up Saunders' aviation for as long as possible using their best pilots, while the rest went to ground strike duty. Looking down at her fuel gauge, Isabel noted that they wouldn't be able to keep up the pressure for much longer, as they would have to head back to refuel soon. The American P-38s didn't have to worry about running out of fuel before the 109s did, their long-range design working to their advantage and keeping them airborne for longer.

" _Erika, hol dir das Kingcobra,_ " Isabel ordered her younger sister to get the other P-63 chasing after one of the _Doras,_ but she shut her mouth when she saw the Bf 109 F-4 marked with the yellow number 14 roll within its dive and quickly alter its course to said _Kingcobra,_ closing and swiftly shooting down the American fighter with some extremely accurate deflection shooting. " _… Vergiss es. Gute Arbeit, Hanna._ " The black-haired ultra-ace radioed a disregard for her previous order, along with a verbal pat on the back for Hanna, the pilot of the _Messer_ with the yellow 14.

" _Down! I'm down!_ " Charlotte heard Wing Commander Jill broadcast over Saunders' channels. The burgundy-haired _Lightning_ pilot quickly looked around the skies and with surprise in her eyes discovered the P-63 belonging to her superior spiraling down out of the air with only one wing still attached. " _Charlotte, you take command!_ "

"Uh-yes, ma'am!" Charlotte briefly stuttered in surprise, not at all expecting her to take command of the Fighter Wing right then, even though she _was_ Jill's second-in-command. It was just the surprise of having it declared so suddenly that got to the burgundy-haired American. "Have a safe trip down!"

Today was just full of surprises for her, it seemed. First up was her encounter with what she had dubbed as Isabel's mini-me, a young blond-haired girl looking just like Isabel excluding the hair color that flew a Bf 109 G-6 decorated with a black tulip nose and a white number 1 on the fuselage side. She swore she saw that girl laughing at her at one moment, though from how innocent she seemed, Charlotte figured perhaps her giggles had to do with something about her plane, like maybe that pin-up of herself on the nose.

But then she had unexpectedly found herself calling the shots for Saunders' aviation with no prior warning. She had no prior experience with commanding by herself, so it was safe to say she was unnerved by having to command her first fight that was rapidly turning into a shit show. She only hoped that things wouldn't get worse.

Charlotte blinked when she saw that all of Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters that had been engaging her own fighters had by now entered steep dives to the east, the direction of the German airfield. Recalling what she had learned of Schwarzwaldspitze in briefing, she quickly deduced that the German fighters must be disengaging because of the need to refuel. The American _Lightnings_ could fly for much longer than the fighters Schwarzwaldspitze had brought to the fight, so it made sense in Charlotte's mind that the Germans would break off the engagement sooner or later.

That being said, the burgundy-haired acting commander knew better than to order her fighters to pursue. The early models of the P-38, such as those flown by Saunders, had huge problems with compressibility. To prevent such occurrences as those verge-of-death scenarios where the fighter would get stuck in an unrecoverable dive, it was emphasized in Saunders' flight training for the _Lightning_ to avoid high-speed dives, especially at higher altitude where the air was thinner and there was less chance to recover.

Because of that tactical limitation, Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters could simply go into a steep dive if they didn't wish to fight a P-38, and the _Lightning_ could do nothing about it. Charlotte thanked God that it didn't turn out worse than that, because at least she didn't have the later P-38Gs and P-38Hs at her disposal. Those particular variants were very prone to blowing engines at high altitudes during cold weather, such as that in the Ardennes currently.

"Everyone, do _not_ pursue the enemy. Hold for now," Charlotte issued her first orders to Saunders aviation. She then switched channels. "Status report, Captain?"

The burgundy-haired teen waited for a response. And waited. And waited some more.

"Captain?" she tried again, getting sick of the silence responding to her.

" _… We're fucked forwards, backwards, sideways, and upside down. How's that for a status report?_ " Kelly eventually reported from the ground as Saunders' Tank Battalion's acting commander.

Charlotte snorted in amusement, both at the report itself and that she and Kelly both had to take the helm after their superiors were taken out. "Well said, Captain," she granted him the compliment on his eloquent language. "Now, I'm assuming that means you need our help?"

 _Sent to the skies, appeared over Bastogne  
As easy, as hard as they get_

After the remaining American fighters flew back to base, Charlotte and the rest of the Fighter Wing soon took off again from their airfield, this time laden with bombs. Each _Lightning_ carried two 500 lb bombs inboard of their engines. The skies over Bastogne were still utter shit for lack of a better term as the snowstorm raged on unchecked. It was a huge risk the busty pilot was making with flying straight into that awful weather, but air support was greatly needed, so it was done anyway.

 _Michael's command  
Request and demand!  
Offer surrender, declined!_

"This fight's fortunes are not in your favor, _Kapitän_ Kelly," Michael Nishizumi said over his phone, using it as a medium to speak with Saunders' Tank Battalion's acting commander as he sat atop _Tiger_ number 212. "Your tanks are completely encircled by our armor. Your fighters are too busy fighting off our fighters to come to your rescue. Even more of our fighters are en route as we speak to finish your forces off. The only way you may avoid prolonged suffering for your men is via your honorable surrender. I will give you half an hour to think about your decision. Should you reject this proposal, then be ready to face the full wrath of Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium."

 _NUTS!  
Captain Kelly's word echo clear!_

"NUTS!" was the response provided by Kelly a few minutes later. The American tankers quickly caught on to what their acting commander implied and started to build some makeshift signs with 'NUTS!' written across them, to emphasize their point. Even those Americans watching the fight from afar and on the television caught on to the saying and joined into the slogan. 'NUTS!' was the word to signify never giving in, to never surrender.

 _NUTS!  
Black Forest shall hear!_

"… Nuts?" Manfred Nishizumi raised an eyebrow in confusion at hearing the American response to his brother's demand for their surrender. The meaning of the expression was lost on him, as it was for the rest of _Tiger_ number 217's crew. American sayings made no sense to most everyone on the German side.

" _Perhaps they were asking for a truckload of nuts to eat?_ " Erika suggested helpfully over the radio, to which she received an amused snort from the light brunette _Tiger_ commander. " _Well, hey! You can't blame me for trying!_ "

 _Crack of the lightning splitting the ground  
Thunder is sounding  
Fighter-bombers pounding!_

"Your choice," Michael pointedly reminded Kelly that it was _his_ decision to continue resisting before hanging up on him. He then donned his radio headset again and issued the words to Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerabteilung_ to turn Bastogne into a frozen hell by their hands. " _Alle Panzer, angriff._ "

The order went heeded immediately as the _Panthers_ dashed forth from their locations using their quick mobility, followed by the few _Panzer_ IVs remaining and the two lumbering _Tigers_ numbered 212 and 217. The beginning of their advance coincided with Schwarzwaldspitze fighters dive-bombing Saunders' positions, creating an atmosphere that screamed _Blitzkrieg._

 _Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne  
Facing their forces alone!_

" _Captain, your airstrike will be delivered in approximately five seconds,_ " Charlotte cheekily notified Kelly over the radio. The American tank commander was relieved to know that some of the pounding of the city was now going to help the American tankers out rather than hurt them.

Coming in at low altitude were the bomb-laden _Lightnings_ with German fighters chasing after them, but the Americans were able to release their bombs onto Schwarzwaldspitze's positions before their pursuers managed to close the distance with them.

 _Crack of the lightning splitting the ground  
Thunder is sounding  
Fighter-bombers pounding!_

Schwarzwaldspitze and Saunders aviation alike quickly fell into a low-altitude aerial brawl filled with reflexive shooting as the ground down below trembled before the crack of lightning that came down on it. The lightning was followed up by the thunder of guns from German _Panzers_ and American tanks duking it out down below.

 _Wrath of Black Forest cast on Bastogne  
Facing their forces alooooone!_

Let it not go unsaid that judging by the fierce fighting both sides had displayed that day, the Russians would find themselves a worthy opponent in either the Americans or the Germans when the time came for the finals later that year. The fight to control Bastogne and therefore secure a slot to the finals was so fierce that it could only be won after one side totally annihilated the other, and not a hair's breadth before then.

Perhaps it was a good thing then that Bastogne had very generous insurance, considering all the carnage that would have to be repaired to make the city at least outwardly resemble a city again.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	112. Kapitel 22,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Zweiundzwanzig: Die Dichter und Denker**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Es ist Valentins, Schwarzwaldspitze!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

February fourteenth. The sweetest day of the year, Valentine's day. Taking its name from the great Saint Valentine, the day of love traditionally brought with it a vast amount of sweetness, both the romantic kind and the sugary kind.

It was no different aboard the _Zuikaku_ with Ooarai High School, as the area around the school's hangars became the scene for a very large exchange in Valentines. Though perhaps it was somewhat sweeter among them than it was elsewhere thanks to the beauty that was childish innocence.

"Captain Nishizumi!" Ayumi, the 75 mm gunner for the school's M3 _Lee,_ called out to the captain of the team. She and her fellow crewmembers for the oddball American medium tank were all rushing over to her, each with delightful sweets in hand. They all outwardly resembled children from their extreme enthusiasm of the day, some more than others.

"Happy Valentine's day, Captain!" Azusa, the de facto leader of the group of rowdy freshmen girls, formally wished her captain a celebratory day as she presented her gift of chocolates to the light brunette team captain.

"HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!" both Karina and Aya greeted Miho with very enthusiastic demeanors, much like small children, as they handed forth their own chocolate gifts.

"Have some Valentine's chocolate!" Yuuki offered her box of chocolates forth with similar enthusiasm. She was not _quite_ as lively as Karina and Aya were, but she was certainly still pretty excited for that day.

Acting very much the same as her fellow freshmen comrades, Saki did not verbalize her enthusiasm, nor betray any of it on her face. As silent as ever, she still presented her chocolates for Miho to accept with just as much physical enthusiasm as the others.

"Ah, thank you all so much!" the light brunette _Panzer_ ace herself greatly thanked the girls for their voluminous gift-giving with a bright smile on her face. The number of gifts she got was such that she had a bit of trouble trying to keep all of the chocolate boxes in her arms, as there were _so_ many.

Azusa looked around for a bit, seemingly trying to search for someone, but she didn't find them apparently as she turned back to Miho. "Oh, Captain, do you know where _Staffelkapitän_ Hartmann is?" the brunette freshman asked. "We wanted to give him some chocolate, too…"

"Oh, he's probably out and about pillaging other people's chocolate," Miho guessed the blonde's whereabouts with a slightly amused grin adorning her face. "You've seen how he is around the stuff." The _Panzer_ ace was undoubtedly referring to when the freshmen had witnessed Erich pillage all of the chocolate Yukari had collected as part of her rations collection back when Ooarai had camped out at Fort Jackson within the United States, before they had faced Saunders.

Miho then dropped the amusement and grew somewhat apologetic. "But I'm honestly not too sure where he went," she shrugged apologetically.

The _Panzer_ ace noticed how the _Rabbit_ Team's members' faces began to drop at those words.

"But you can give them to me, and I can make sure he gets them later!" Miho quickly added to avoid having to deal with a collectively upset _Rabbit_ Team.

That did the trick, as the freshmen's faces lit back up. "Thank you, Captain!" Azusa verbally thanked the light brunette _Panzer_ ace while the others expressed their thanks by giving her a large sack filled with chocolates.

"Here!" Ayumi hefted the sizable sack to sit it down by Miho's side. "That's for the _Staffelkapitän!_ "

Saori, who was nearby, let out a low whistle at the large sack that strained with holding all of the chocolates within it inside. "Wow, looks like they _really_ know _Bubi's_ appetite for chocolate," she noted, impressed.

She was precluded from further elaborating on her point when the freshmen of _Rabbit_ Team started to push chocolates into her arms. "For you too, Saori!" Aya and Karina both gleefully informed as they thrusted their particular chocolate gifts into the ginger's arms.

"Oh, thanks, you guys!" Saori switched over into the caregiver mindset she usually used with the freshmen as she generously accepted the chocolate. She then pulled up a bag she had and reached inside, pulling out some boxes of homemade chocolate and handing them to the freshmen. "And here's some from me, too! Enjoy!"

 _Rabbit_ Team squealed with joy as they eagerly accepted the ginger's gifts. They then busied themselves with enjoying the delicacies made by Saori.

The redhead herself sighed wistfully watching them. "I only got to make chocolate for friends this year," she noted with a slightly disappointed tone. Always the one to try and impress boys, Saori had failed over the past year to get herself a boyfriend, meaning she couldn't make any chocolates for her boyfriend like she dreamed of doing one day.

"But isn't it like that _every_ year?" Hana innocently reminded Saori of last year's failure for her to get a boyfriend, and the year before that, and the year before that, and so on. The black-haired flower arranger then took a sizable bite out of her chocolate gift, large in size and in a heart shape.

Saori didn't respond, but grew an extremely pouty face and moaned in barely-contained annoyance at Hana's humiliating of her.

Elsewhere around the hangars, exchanges of Valentine's gifts carried on. Like with the badminton team.

"Hey, pass it over here!" Ron beckoned as he waved his racquet as a signal that he was open. It wasn't a normal racquet, but it was one made of hardened chocolate. It wasn't strictly meant to be functional, but the badminton captain demonstrated that it could be by swinging and sending a chocolate shuttlecock over to his fellow team members. He and his buddies chose to make a game out of the chocolates they had received from everyone.

"I have no obligation to follow with the customs of the padre," Saemonza discussed with the group of history buffs as she crossed her arms. All of the history lovers looked really tame by comparison to everyone else around them who were celebrating the day. It didn't even seem like they were even embracing the day's joys.

"Same as the left," Oryou agreed with the other Japanese history buff.

"It's not like this was originally a part of the day's celebrations, anyway," Wolf noted as he nonchalantly tipped the brim of his Schirmmütze up with his fingers.

"Saint Valentine certainly didn't have this kind of celebration in his honor in mind when he went up to face the executioner," Caesar spoke up in agreement with Wolf.

"This is just a conspiracy for chocolate manufacturers to make even more money than they do already," Abe opined.

"… That being said…" Erwin began, noticing everyone around her subtly slipping their hands under their various historic outfits, including herself.

"Friendship chocolate attack!" all eight of the buffs proclaimed as they brought out their hands and thrusting forth various chocolates of their own, each very intricately detailed and suiting the specific history lover they came from.

Wolf's chocolate represented the insignia of _Jagdgeschwader_ 3 ' _Udet._ ' Erwin's appeared most like the _Reichsadler,_ excluding the _Hakenkreuz._ Leonidas had a chocolate that was a miniaturized form of a Corinthian helmet. Caesar had a chocolate Roman Coliseum, with crumbled sections just like the real Coliseum. Gustav had a chocolate _hirschfängare,_ a small sword meant for close combat and once used by Carolean artillery troops. Saemonza was obviously proud of her chocolate _uchigatana._ Abe's chocolate was a sculpture of the distinctive top hat he often wore. Oryou had a miniature chocolate sculpture of Ryouma Sakamoto.

A few seconds of awkward silence ensued between all of the history buffs as they still held their unique chocolates out, Gustav and Saemonza holding theirs out like actual blades.

"Well…" Wolf eventually broke the silence abruptly. "I guess we all had the same thoughts, then. So, shall we do the honors of exchanging _Schokolade?_ "

Back with Miho's closely-knit group, Yukari came sprinting toward Miho. "Lady Nishizumi!" she beckoned the light brunette as she slowed to a walk upon approaching the group, panting to regain her breath.

Miho turned to find Yukari walking up to her looking exhausted. "Oh?" she raised an eyebrow in wonder. "Why the rush, Yukari? Is something wrong?"

"Choco… Choco…" the tank guru tried to say, but she was caught in between trying to say what she wanted while also trying to regain the breath that she needed.

Miho, however, managed to deduce what she believed she wanted to say. "Ah, you want to give me some chocolate?" she guessed as she grew a smile.

To her surprise, though, Yukari madly shook her head to deny that. " _Bubi…_ " she got out next, but once again, her need to breathe overwhelmed her desire to speak.

The light brunette _Panzer_ ace blinked and raised an eyebrow, evidently caught off-guard by that. "… Wait, so _Erich_ wants to give me chocolate, is what you're saying?" she asked as if it was not to be believed.

Yukari was fed up with talking, so she simply pointed her finger to her right – Miho's left – and let the light brunette figure it out for herself. Miho looked over to where the tank guru pointed and let her jaw drop in shocked disbelief when she caught sight of what was happening over there.

"Come on back!" Erich waved a hand back to a dump truck that was backing up. "Come on, you're good! You're good!" The blonde had a grin that went from ear to ear as he directed the dump truck back.

Eventually he held his hand up in a fist, a gesture that was understood to mean 'stop.' The truck stopped, and Erich took a second to look back. He caught Miho's eye and shot her that same face-splitting grin he had earlier. "Let her rip!" he broadly declared as he raised an arm up as a cue to the truck driver.

Said cue was for the dump truck to dump its load, and the truck did so. Out of the bed came an avalanche of chocolates that rushed out in a grand river of deliciousness, burying the blond-haired ultra-ace in the process. After the entire load of sweetness was deposited, the dump truck drove away, leaving a mountain of chocolate in its trail.

Popping out from the top of the mountain of chocolate, Erich spread his arms out to his sides in a grand fashion. " _Alles Gute zum Valentinstag, Miho!_ " he proclaimed a happy Valentine's day across the hangar's surroundings to a very stunned Miho.

The light brunette _Panzer_ ace couldn't find any words to say about what the hell just happened, so she settled with just blinking a few times. She was rendered absolutely speechless from receiving a truck-load of chocolate as a Valentine's day gift.

"Please tell me you'll share," Mako came up from behind her out of nowhere and nearly begged. The sleepy tank driver was wide awake now with her mouth nearly drooling of want for the mountain of chocolate that was just delivered to Miho.

The light brunette soon snapped out of her stunned state to approach Erich, who had begun to make his way down the pile. "What-just… _what_ the devil is this?" she asked him when she reached the blonde after he descended to the ground.

"Your Valentine's gift," Erich answered as if it was obvious, still with an ear-to-ear grin. He noted that there was a large crowd of people watching him, but he made no mention of it, instead choosing to let them be entertained.

"What made you make the, I'm assuming, _tremendous_ effort to get me such a gift?" Miho asked next. It made no logical sense to her to expend such a huge effort for something that was for only one day. It must've taken a _lot_ of work to deliver that much chocolate on such short notice.

Erich raised an eyebrow but kept smiling. "Don't you remember?" he responded with his own question. "You once said you wanted to get a truck-load of chocolate for Valentine's day."

Miho blinked once before her face started to contort as if she was holding back a lot of laughter. " _Ach mein Gott,_ " she uttered a brief 'oh-my-God' before she burst into giggles. After being prompted by the blonde, she remembered full well what he was talking about. "I was _six!_ "

The blond-haired ultra-ace shrugged as if it was merely an insignificant detail. "Either way, your wish is now reality," he said. He then quickly drew her close and surprised her with a kiss.

It lasted only about a second before he pulled back, but that second was all-too-brief for the light brunette to return it. But she now became aware of the audience around them, which to be fair, she thought, she should've taken note of earlier. Either way, her natural shyness kicked back in as she flushed a deep red when she heard the catcalls, making her seek shelter within Erich's arms from all the prying eyes.

" _Ach, du bist ein Arschloch,_ " Miho called him an asshole for making a scene. She was not a fan of public displays of affection because of her shyness, which only served to egg on Erich to do more of them. Because, as he had once said, she just looked so ridiculously adorable when she was embarrassed.

The blond-haired ultra-ace snorted in amusement at the jest, but made no move to release its source. " _Aber bin ich_ _ **dein**_ _Arschloch,_ " he responded that he was _her_ asshole. The light brunette made no attempt to deny that, because they both knew it was the truth.

"So does this sort of shit happen _every_ year with you two?" Anton asked the pair as he approached with Nathan and Herz in tow. David was already diving into the mountain of chocolate to sate his sweet tooth. They had all worked with Erich to bring the dump truck around before, which explained their absence earlier.

Miho turned within her blond-haired asshole's arms to face the others when she heard them approach. Her tank crew had approached as well with them, including Mako, who she gave a subtle nod to. That nod was her permission to feast on her chocolate, which the sleepy tank driver immediately began to do as she rushed the chocolate mountain.

The light brunette didn't mind so much with her friends watching when it came to her and Erich being lovey-dovey, because they were her friends. "Haha, _nooooo…_ " she denied the blonde American's assumption as she shook her head with a smile. "Otherwise I would've already grown sick of chocolate." Her smile then took on a more reminiscent nature. "Though _Valentinstag_ is _always_ fun together…" She felt the blonde behind her nod in agreement.

Standing amidst her little band of friends, Miho briefly wondered how the day was faring for both her and Erich's elder siblings.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Herr Staffelkapitän!_ " was what Alfred-Joachim Hartmann heard as he looked through some papers within a notebook, which forced him to divert his attention to the speaker. It was a busy day aboard the _Graf Zeppelin,_ even though it was also Valentine's day. On that point specifically, the black-haired ultra-ace felt he already knew what he was being called for before even hearing it be said.

Before him stood Erika, who continued when she had his attention, "A large package arrived, addressed to you." She had a clipboard with her, which held a shipping manifest on it detailing what had arrived for the Black Devil.

"Mmm-hmm," Alfred nodded in acknowledgement. ' _Knew it,_ ' he thought as he moved to get the package itself.

He was out by the hangars, just outside a building that served multiple purposes. First, it had his office. Second, linked to it was also Maho's office, because Schwarzwaldspitze placed a huge emphasis on combined arms combat, which they felt could be best achieved by making the commanders of land and air forces work together. Third, it served as a connection between the _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ hangars, even including a common briefing room meant for both land and air forces to use simultaneously, which went back to the emphasis on combined arms combat. To summarize, it could be thought of as an overall command center.

Choosing to open the package where he stood, the Black Devil opened the box. Inside were a huge amount of chocolates gifted by many would-be admirers. It was obvious by the way some of them were addressed. While the gifts from some were more formal in nature, given by how they were addressed as ' _für herr Alfred,_ ' a lot of the gifts were from those would-be admirers, as they were variously addressed. Usually, they were left simple with just ' _Alfred_ ' and a heart. Some went for a more blunt display of their affections, choosing to address their gifts with ' _Ich liebe Alfred,_ ' a few instances replacing ' _liebe_ ' with a heart. There were also plenty of occasions where Alfred's name was replaced by his well-known nickname, the Black Devil, or _Schwarzer Teufel_ for those written in his native tongue.

Alfred simply stared into the box after opening it with an unreadable expression. In his mind, he had already identified which gifts were from admirers and which were more formal as he mentally sorted through the box with his calculating gaze.

"This is the fourth one for you this morning," Erika noted, looking a bit annoyed and exasperated. Such emotions were because she felt like her current duties as a secretary weren't anywhere close to being worth the time spent doing it with the amount of work she had done so far, which, to be fair, was quite a lot. "We've already had four come in for _fräulein Kapitän_ and ten for _herr Staffelführer._ All of them were filled with only _Schokolade._ "

The light blonde _Tiger_ II commander looked over to where Maho was, who was nearby and similarly opening a package stuffed to the brim with chocolate, before looking over to where Hans Jochen was, and she let out a groan of disgust when she saw him. The egotistical Me 262 pilot and second-in-command to Alfred had a gaggle of girls surrounding him. They giggled at everything he said and sensually fed him bites of chocolate.

Erika chose to ignore the narcissistic blonde in favor of returning her attention to Alfred, who was still intently staring into the box he just received. "This is to be expected, though, with how well-known and popular Schwarzwaldspitze is throughout _Deutschland_ and the rest of the world beyond," the _Tiger_ II commander noted. "Let's stack them up for now in the corner. If we distribute them out gradually for everyone to eat-"

She was cut off when Alfred suddenly dunked his hand into the box to delve through it, a focused look crossing his brown eyes.

" _Herr Staffelkapitän?_ " Erika asked in confusion seeing the sudden change in his demeanor.

She was answered when the black-haired German extracted his arm from the box with a box of chocolate in hand. This box of chocolate was special, though.

"Wait, that's…" Erika paused as she read the labels. "… That's from _fräulein Kapitän's_ sister?"

The box of chocolates was from Miho, as the box stated. It was addressed to ' _Alfi,_ ' a childhood nickname Miho had come up with for the elder Hartmann as a little girl and had continued to use ever since. A small message was scrawled over the paper, saying, ' _Alles Gute zum Valentinstag, Alfi! -von Miho und Erich_ '

"He pinpointed the exact box he was looking for, and actually _knew_ it was there to begin with…" Erika was busy trying to comprehend what sort of black magic Alfred just pulled on everyone that was watching, which was a sizable amount given the _Staffelkapitän's_ popularity.

The black-haired ultra-ace simply opened up the box and took one piece of chocolate to eat. After chewing it and swallowing, he grew the smallest of grins, a sign of great satisfaction to those who knew him well enough to read him. "Yup," he confirmed to Erika. "Miho knows my tastes."

A pang of jealousy flared up within Erika at the mention that Miho knew what Alfred preferred most, something that caused her jaw to clench in anger. The wild-tempered blonde had always held an animosity to the younger Nishizumi, because no matter how much Erika tried, Miho always ended up having the better favor among everyone, and was able to do it without really even trying. That bothered the _Tiger_ II commander a great deal, because she always put forth her best effort in everything she did, and yet it seemed to be for nothing, at least in her eyes.

"Wait, wait, _herr Staffelkapitän!_ " Erika sprung into action as she started to shuffle through her pockets with vigor, almost desperately so. "I-I had also…!"

Eventually, the blonde girl pulled out a heart-shaped box of chocolates. The chocolates themselves were made by her own hand, though it was quite a struggle for her to do so. It was her first time making the treat, so it took some effort to make it.

But before she could push the box into the Black Devil's hands, a thought struck Erika and stopped her in her tracks. She pulled back the box to herself and grew noticeably less confident, because she had just realized that she didn't even know what kind of flavor the black-haired ultra-ace preferred.

"What is it, Erika?" Alfred wondered about what Erika had to say before, but she had grown lost in thought and took a long time to respond. "Erika…"

Within the _Tiger_ II commander's head, she was busy freaking out over what to do now. ' _What if he doesn't like it?_ ' she had thought. The thought that the Black Devil might not like her chocolate bothered her more than she felt comfortable admitting.

"Erika?" Alfred tried again to get a response.

"Um… Well, you see…" Erika began meekly, sounding very uncharacteristic of her usual self-confident attitude. Her face was tinged a slight red from that unheard-of-for-her shyness.

The black-haired ultra-ace noticed how the blonde _Tiger_ II commander's face began to flush red. His response to that was to close the distance with her and place his hands on either side of her head, in an attempt to logically deduce why she was turning that way.

That shocked Erika very much into speechlessness, and she soon rapidly flushed a deep red from the extreme closeness of the Black Devil, so close that his forehead rested against her own. She was unable to think clearly when she was so close to the black-haired ultra-ace. A part of her wanted to break away out of embarrassment, but another part of her wanted to lean further into him. The lack of her ability to think at that moment meant she held still, unable to decide what she really wanted.

"Your face is red," Alfred noted as he held his calculating gaze with the blond-haired girl's. He brought one of the hands resting on either side of her head to her forehead, a move that, to her, felt more like a gentle caress. "Could you perhaps have a fever?"

Erika couldn't respond due to her brain effectively shutting down from the Black Devil's touching. It just felt _so_ nice, and the fact that he had verbalized concern for her made her heart flutter even higher.

Eventually, the normally wild-tempered blonde was brought back down to earth when she felt Alfred pull away from her. It caused an unpleasant and upsetting emptiness within her.

"You _do_ feel a bit hot," the black-haired ultra-ace noted as he held the back of his hand to Erika's forehead. He soon pulled that away, too. The _Tiger_ II commander wanted so badly to lean further into that gentle touch, but she was still frozen from the shock of just being so close to him. "Don't worry about heading to practice today. I'll tell Maho that you're at the infirmary and unable to fight, so go over and get some rest there."

Alfred began to head back to the command center, but he stopped at the door and looked back over his shoulder to Erika. "Understood?" he asked.

"Uh-yeah, right…" the blonde _Vizekapitän_ stuttered, finally finding her voice.

The Black Devil nodded before entering the building and shutting the door behind him, leaving Erika standing outside holding her box of chocolates that he failed to realize were a gift for him. The entire time, he had not betrayed a single emotion on his face, making it impossible to know what he was thinking unless one knew him well enough. He could've been thinking anything from what was waiting back home for dinner to the idea of breaking out the whips and chains for extremely kinky business.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Verdammt,_ why couldn't I give it to him…" Erika sulked later as she walked throughout Schwarzwaldspitze's school grounds, still with her chocolate in hand. She was berating herself for just standing there like an idiot instead of actually speaking with Alfred like a normal person, or giving him her gift. It wasn't like her to freeze up like that.

She passed by a few of the _Jagdstaffel_ pilots that were preoccupied with raging over some elaborately-designed chocolates. Erika didn't bother to pay them any heed. She just didn't feel like even _looking_ at any _Jagdstaffel_ pilots after she had made a fool of herself trying to talk to the one _Jagdstaffel_ pilot she actually liked.

" _Küss meinem Arsch, Dora-Flieger!_ " the Ta 152 Pilot cursed as he ripped off the wing of a chocolate Fw 190 D-12 with his teeth in an animalistic manner.

" _Ich werde ihn in die Hölle schicken!_ " the Ho 229 Pilot raged about how he would send that _Dora_ pilot to hell. He barely avoided crushing his chocolate with his fist out of anger. His chocolate was of an Ho 229, which was made to have a chunk of its right wing break off with ease.

" _Ich hasse das Dora-Flieger so sehr!_ " the Fw 190 Pilot raged about his extreme hatred for that _Dora_ pilot, looking behind him on instinct for the enemy Fw 190 D-12 he constantly felt behind him ever since that time in the Finals fight. He couldn't decide whether to eat or fiercely obliterate the chocolate Fw 190 D-12 in his hand.

" _Gib mir noch ein Versuch!_ " the Bf 109 Pilot raged about wanting another chance to fight that Finals match. He had devoured his chocolate Bf 109 F-4 all the way to the cockpit.

" _Idioten,_ " Erika muttered how those four pilots were idiots, and continued to walk on. She soon noticed some of her other comrades within the _Panzerzug,_ and feeling a bit curious, she decided to hang back and watch them.

"Here, I got some _Schokolade_ for you!" the _Jagdpanther_ Commander offered a box of chocolate to the _Maus_ Commander.

"Oh, thanks a lot!" the commander of one-hundred eighty-eight tons of pure German engineering responded with delight as she accepted the gift and quickly began to eat out of the box. "This is good! But as long as it's edible, it's good enough for me!"

The _Jagdpanther_ Commander then looked around at her other comrades. "It's pretty amazing how popular some of our warriors are, isn't it?" she asked around to make conversation.

"Yeah!" the _Panther_ Commander readily agreed. " _Fräulein Kapitän_ is the best in the country!"

"Add to that _herr Staffelkapitän,_ " the _Panzer_ III Commander added before she began to munch down a piece of chocolate.

"Yeah, him too," the _Maus_ Commander nodded her head in agreement before reaching for another chocolate.

"And don't forget _herr Staffelführer!_ " the _Panther_ Commander was quick to add. A little too quick, judging by the scoff the _Panzer_ III Commander gave.

" _Please,_ " the _Maus_ Commander rolled her eyes. "We don't need to hear more about how you want to submit yourself to him."

"Hey!" the _Panther_ Commander retorted to the accusation. "I _never_ said such things!"

"No, but we know you were thinking them," the _Panzer_ III Commander interjected just after finishing a piece of chocolate. The _Panther_ Commander flushed red, but made no denial of thinking about what the _Maus_ Commander had insinuated. The _Panzer_ III commander then got everyone back on topic. "But you're right about all three of them being great at what they do. They were all selected for the national team to fight in the World War Tournament in a few years."

"Hey, look what I just got!" the _Jagdpanther_ Commander spoke up again after reappearing with the group. The other three _Panzer_ commanders looked over to the commander of the German tank destroyer and noticed she held a box.

"What's that?" the _Panzer_ III Commander spoke up for everybody the question on all their minds.

"It's a package of _Schokolade_ that was addressed to us!" the _Jagdpanther_ Commander informed excitedly.

The other _Panzer_ commanders all went, "Ooh!" They were now just as giddy as the _Jagdpanther_ Commander, because who didn't love getting chocolate?

But after opening the box and digging up their particular chocolates, the four _Panzer_ commanders grew silent. They were no longer sure whether they wanted these chocolates or not, because it was obvious that these chocolates were attempts by someone to screw with them.

Each of them held a relatively large chocolate sculpture. The _Jagdpanther_ Commander held a chocolate _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t). The _Maus_ Commander held a chocolate sculpture of a _Maus_ with its turret turned, a white flag stuck on top of said turret, and an _I-Go otsu_ perched on its engine deck. The _Panther_ Commander also held a chocolate _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t). Lastly, the _Panzer_ III Commander held a chocolate _Panzer_ III J1 with a white flag resting atop its turret.

The attempt to screw with them was successful as all hell broke loose with the four _Panzer_ commanders after they were so bluntly reminded of their blunders in the Finals match.

"Who did this?!" the _Maus_ Commander raged hard enough to make the fury said super-heavy tank was capable of seem tame by comparison. "Who orchestrated this elaborate practical joke?!"

"Again, why are there two _Hetzers?!_ " the _Panther_ Commander angrily questioned.

"From 'Ooarai's Masked _Hetzer?!_ '" the _Jagdpanther_ Commander nearly blew a blood vessel after reading who the package was sent by.

"Who the hell cares?!" the _Panzer_ III Commander yelled before beginning to devour her chocolate _Panzer_ III, after plucking the white flag off the turret. "Again, who shot me?!"

Erika had enough of watching even more idiots and decided to walk off, shaking her head and again muttering, " _Idioten._ "

Her walking off meant the _Tiger_ II commander missed the arrival of Koume onto the scene. She was just as composed and happy as always as she made her way to the foursome of raging _Panzer_ commanders with a box of chocolates in hand.

"Um..." the German commander for one of the many other _Panthers_ tried to interject, but she wasn't heard. She tried again, this time in a louder voice. "Guys? Have you all seen Erika lately?"

"Who cares?!" the _Jagdpanther_ Commander turned and snarled out of rage. "Just help me decide what to do with this _verdammter Hetzer!_ "

Koume didn't take any offense to the rage being briefly directed onto her, instead simply walking off with a smile still on her face. "I wonder where Erika went…" she wondered. "Miho sent some _Schokolade_ for the both of us, so where is she? I want her to get her share…"

Her walking off meant she missed the _Jagdpanther_ Commander choosing to eat her chocolate _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) over the other options of crushing it, burning it, vaporizing it, or making an improvised bomb out of it and returning it to sender.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Erika was within the infirmary and listening to a doctor's recommendation for her. She was sitting up on the edge of one of the beds there.

"Well, you don't appear to have a fever, judging by test results," the doctor revealed her determination. "But you should definitely rest for a little bit."

"Okay…" Erika nodded without much energy. "My apologies for wasting your time."

"Don't worry about it," the doctor waved off the concern. She then turned to leave. "If something happens, do call."

After the doctor left Erika, the _Tiger_ II commander flopped back unceremoniously onto the bed with a loud sigh of disappointment. "Just what the hell am I doing…" she muttered as she popped the top buttons on her gray Schwarzwaldspitze shirt with one hand before resting said hand on her head. "Now that I think about it, last year…" She trailed off as she recalled what happened last Valentine's day.

XXXXXXXXXX

Last year at Schwarzwaldspitze was pretty similar at first glance. There were really only three people being absolutely showered with Valentines, that being Maho Nishizumi, Alfred-Joachim Hartmann, and the hot-shot rookie Hans Jochen.

For Alfred, being renowned as the Black Devil had attracted a large crowd around him at the main entrance to the school, filled with people each trying to get their gifts into his hands. The black-haired ultra-ace didn't appear fazed by any of that, instead accepting them indiscriminately. He kept his poker face despite being confronted by a multitude of fans and admirers vying for his attention.

From around a corner of a nearby building, three people watched the scene. There was Erika, who was looking frustrated and on the edge of snapping at the sight before her. There was Miho, who grew more timid at the sight of so many people. And finally, there was Erich-Dietrich Hartmann, who seemed rather amused at the whole ordeal his brother was putting himself through. The two girls each had a single box of chocolate with them, while the blond-haired _Gustav Experte_ had none, and for good reason.

"See that right there, Miho?" the blond-haired ultra-ace waved a hand in the direction of the crowd surrounding the Black Devil. " _That's_ why I don't give him any _Schokolade._ He already has enough without my pitching in to last him for a year."

"Well, I actually _want_ to give him a gift, unlike your selfish _Arsch!_ " the light brunette _Tiger_ ace retorted to him with a smirk. She then looked back to the crowd around Alfred and grew nervous again at the sight of it. "But that sure is a huge crowd around _herr Staffelkapitän…_ "

"Well, it's like I said earlier," Erich began. He lifted a finger. "All that _Schokolade_ would be-"

"Can't you do something to get us closer to him?!" Erika snapped at the blond-haired ultra-ace and cut him off. The ferocity of the snap startled the other two. "You're his damn brother!"

"Well, that's the thing…" Erich responded in an attempt to placate the hot-tempered _Panzer_ III commander. "For one, I don't give him _Schokolade._ I have Miho to take care of that for me."

"And with that said, I tend to give him my gift at home…" Miho further elaborated, even though she was pretty anxious about what Erika might do next.

' _Ugh, and I thought I could gain something by staying close to that lazy fighter bum!_ ' the hot-tempered blonde thought in frustration. "Forget that and just give me a hand here!" she fiercely demanded. "Since it's come to this, we need to charge in!"

"Huh? Uh-I mean, yes!" Miho stuttered out in surprise at the hot temper of the _Panzer_ III commander coming onto her.

" _PANZER VOR!_ " Erika proclaimed her command and rushed forth with a raised fist.

" _Vor…_ " Miho weakly followed her example with her own fist as the two _Panzer_ commanders rushed into the crowd.

Erich, on the other hand, stood back and watched. "Well…" he began to himself as he grew an amused smirk. "She _did_ say to give her a hand…" He then began to golf clap as he watched Miho and Erika get sucked into the sea of people surrounding his brother.

Eventually, the two _Panzer_ commanders were chucked out of the crowd and onto the steps leading up to the school's entrance. Erich walked over to them and noted how they appeared to have just come out of a battle.

He retained his amused grin as he looked down on the both of them lying on their backs. "I never knew _Bruder's_ fans were _that_ ferocious," he remarked. "You two look like you were thrown out to the wolves."

The two crushed _Panzer_ commanders eventually sat up, Miho sitting up straighter than Erika who leaned back onto her arms. Both still had their chocolates, surprisingly. Miho's was still in hand while Erika rested hers on her lap.

Despite being crushed by the crowd, the light brunette _Tiger_ ace still found it within her to smile. " _Alfi-_ I mean… _herr Staffelkapitän's_ popularity sure is something…" she remarked, just barely remembering to stay more formal and changing the way she addressed Alfred.

"Yeah…" Erika mindlessly agreed as Erich took a seat beside Miho. He was sitting beside only Miho, not bothering to take the space between the two _Panzer_ commanders. He did not want to get caught in the middle of a fight between them for a second time. Once was enough.

The light brunette girl tried to think of something to say to make it less awkward around Erika, finally settling with something. "… Let's give our best next year!" she tried to raise their morale, though she was anxious again about what the hot-tempered _Panzer_ III commander might do.

"Yeah…" Erika mindlessly agreed again, surprising Miho a bit. But the _Tiger_ ace didn't question the sudden agreement. "… But I'm definitely not sticking with either of you next time."

" _Hä?_ " Miho went in surprise at the hot-tempered blonde's words while Erich barked a laugh.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the present day, Erika finished reminiscing on last year's Valentine's day. She remained face up looking at the ceiling for a bit before she roughly turned over onto her side to fall asleep, still sour about the memories from back then.

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time later, Erika cracked her eyes open from her deep sleep. She let out a tired groan as she closed them again, sitting up as she rubbed the sleep out of them and waking up.

" _Ach Scheiß,_ I can't believe I actually fell asleep…" the blonde _Tiger_ II commander remarked in a tired voice that held a bit of incredulity in it as she got off the bed to stretch. She had not expected to actually fall asleep after recalling some of her more unpleasant memories of the past.

"I wonder if practice is over already… _Hallo?_ " she called out within the room to see if she got a response from anyone who was there. She got none, so she assumed no one else was there with her. ' _I guess I'll just eat my chocolate back at home then…_ ' she thought depressingly as she fixed up her Schwarzwaldspitze school uniform and put her chocolates back into her pocket. ' _Shame._ '

"Erika," she heard a voice calmly call out to her. Her head snapped to the source in surprise, as she knew whose voice that was.

She wasn't wrong in her assumption of who it was, as she found Alfred-Joachim Hartmann sitting on one of the benches nonchalantly. He was still in his _Jägermeistern_ outfit, evidently having come straight from practice. That notion was further reinforced when Erika spotted the black-haired ultra-ace had his small pilot's logbook and a mechanical pencil in hand.

" _Herr Staffelkapitän?_ " the _Tiger_ II commander responded in surprise, not at all expecting the Black Devil to come back to her.

Alfred snapped his logbook shut. "How are you feeling?" he asked coolly as he put away his logbook and pencil.

Erika started towards the black-haired _Staffelkapitän,_ her steps growing less confident the closer she got to him. "O-oh, there was nothing to fret over!" she responded as she reached back into her pocket and pull out her chocolates, sensing another opportunity. "Thank you for your concern…" The _Tiger_ II commander started to blush when she got within arm's reach of him, for a few reasons. One was how the scene from earlier, with Alfred getting _very_ close to her, jumped back into her head. Another was because she thought he looked _hot_ in his _Jägermeistern_ uniform, what with how he could leave his jacket completely undone like he didn't give a damn and still look so commanding. Yet another reason was how touched she was by him coming to check on her.

"But is something wrong, _herr Staffelkapitän?_ " Erika asked as she stopped ahead of Alfred, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. "Is there anything I can do to help…?" She asked her questions in a hopeful manner, because she really hoped she could make something happen with him, but she was still nervous. It was only natural for her to be nervous around the one boy she actually liked.

" _Hä?_ " Alfred briefly said before he looked down to Erika's hands, spotting the box of chocolates she held. He then recognized what she had wanted to do before. "Ah…" He looked back up at Erika's face as he grew the smallest of grins, but the _Tiger_ II commander knew from how he did it before that such a small smile for him was basically equivalent to a large smile from anyone else. "Actually, Erika, I don't think I've gotten any _Schokolade_ from you yet."

Erika wouldn't have believed she would find herself in such a situation outside of a dream, but she knew it was no dream from the way she could feel her skin heat up under the now warm gaze of his brown eyes. She slowly handed over her box of chocolates to Alfred, and the last thought she had was, ' _Finally!_ '

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Ad victoriam!_ " was what blared from Erich's phone aboard the _Zuikaku,_ and he halted his devouring of chocolate to listen. After hearing nothing follow up, he began to pull out his phone. "Well, let's see what _Bruder_ has to say," he said, knowing from the tone that it was a text from Alfred.

He pulled up his texts and found his brother's message. It read, ' _Erwarte Gegenseitigkeit._ ' In other words, expect reciprocity. In layman's terms, expect a return gift.

The blond-haired ultra-ace shook his head at his brother's odd knack for being very elaborate yet very brief in his words. "Hey, _Miholein,_ looks like we're getting more _Schokolade,_ " he said to Miho with a smile. The _Panzer_ ace gagged in response, to which he laughed. After that truck-load of chocolate, he didn't think Miho would look at the delicacy the same way again.

XXXXXXXXXX

Good for Erika. She deserves some happiness.

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	113. Kapitel 22,2

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Zweiundzwanzig: Die Dichter und Denker_**

 ** _Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau - Panzerkampf_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

For all the German schools that participated in the Arts of Warfare, there wasn't much to do during the course of a long march to the east. The boredom was almost worth going to sleep to, watching the seemingly endless and monotonic steppes pass by over the course of the march. But they all knew for certain that as soon as their columns of _Panzers_ containing such monsters as the _Tiger_ I, _Tiger_ II, _Jagdtiger, Jagdpanther, Elefant,_ the numerous-yet-highly-lethal _Panthers,_ along with the more tame _Panzer_ IVs and _Sturmgeschütz_ IIIs crossed over the border, things would not be boring for very long.

 _Into the motherland!  
The German army march!_

That was because all of the German schools that participated in the Arts of Warfare were crossing over the border into Mother Russia. To be particular, the largest concentration of the German forces were crossing over from northeastern Ukraine into the southwestern regions of Russia, dominated by the seemingly endless Russian steppes. Their total numbers with regards to manpower were well into the six-figure range, nearly seven-figure.

Such massive numbers for a single battle in the Arts of Warfare circuit might've been unheard of for people who paid little attention to the sport. To be fair, though, it would be right to assume that such numbers weren't commonly seen in any other fight. While the numbers between two opponents might've gotten into the six-digit range during pre-battle brawls, they never got as high as during these particular campaigns.

Because this was Germany versus Russia, the two titans of wargaming. These two were always looking for an advantage over the other and would exploit any weakness they could find immediately upon discovering it. These two were bitter, bitter rivals, neither side forgetting any deeds the other committed over the past century. These two countries that seemingly always clashed with each other made it a point to not waste any effort when it came to eradicating the other, resulting in a constant battle for the glory of who was the undisputed best, and they were not afraid to get dirty with each other to make it so.

So in that light, it made sense as to why the number of combatants in a single battle between them would be so high. This fight between the two giants of the Arts of Warfare circuit was simply another chance to assert superiority over one another, another chance for dick-measuring.

It really was sort of like dick-measuring, because it was guaranteed on both sides that both of their top divisions - or schools, to use the more technical term over the better representative term - would face each other in combat. Therefore, it had already been scheduled to be a fight with the glory of superiority on the line as early as when the results for each country's semifinals fight were reported.

So, having the kind of one-upmanship both sides had for each other, it came as no surprise to anyone when the two mutually decided to enlist _all_ of their schools that were involved in their respective countries' Arts of Warfare programs to join the battle. That meant all German schools were available for use to Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium, and all Russian schools were at the disposal of Shkola No.34 'Pravda.' Until it was time for the official fight, the Germans and Russians would throw everything they had at one another like it was another Eastern Front.

 _In the west of Russia  
In the fields that are so green_

The Russian steppes were nothing if not dull. The only thing that kept the Germans alert on the march into western Russia was a large billboard at the Ukrainian-Russian border that had the following sprawled out across it: ' _S vozvrashcheniem na Vostochnyj Front, urody fashistskie!_ '

After having some locals explain it to some of them, eventually the Germans figured out that the billboard said, 'welcome back to the Eastern Front, fascist bastards!' Obviously, some of them glowered at the sign upon finding out its meaning, as that was considered an insult of the highest caliber to the Germans. But others let it go, knowing that the Russians didn't care one bit about being offensive or not. Schwarzwaldspitze's members were willing to bet it was Pravda who commissioned the billboard, as it was their style to be so bold.

 _Divers of planes and tanks  
Everywhere one can see_

Despite the German forces numbering close to one million combatants, they knew they would still be outnumbered regardless. The Russians never longed for manpower, having about two and a half million of their own combatants to send out in total.

With regards to tanks and aircraft, the Germans had about three-thousand three-hundred _Panzers_ and about two-thousand fighters, while the Russians had far more with around seven-thousand five-hundred tanks and around three-thousand five-hundred fighters. It was to be expected that the Russians would have far greater numbers than the Germans, but that didn't mean the German forces were guaranteed to lose.

 _Ready for the onslaught!  
Ready for the fight!_

Both sides had prepared immensely for this fight, knowing that a crown of glory was on the line. For the German side, that consisted of some more intense training in preparation for what was anticipated to be a fight with the intensity of a supernova. The overall mood among the German divisions - or schools, it didn't really matter so much with the distinction at this stage - was one of anxiousness to get out there and start the fight already.

 _Waiting for Black Forest  
To march into the trap_

The way the Russian side prepared was by setting up defenses that were expected to help wear down the German numbers. It was a tactic that suited their situation well, because they didn't have to go on the march into hostile land. The reason behind that was because the official fight between Schwarzwaldspitze and Pravda was revealed to be somewhere around the Kursk area, though it wasn't specified where exactly.

 _Tanks are placed in ambush  
In the cover of the night_

So the Russian side didn't have to do much of anything besides prepare adequate defenses, because the enemy would be forced to come to them anyway. Well, part of their relative laziness in their movements was because May Day had recently passed, which in typical Russian fashion demanded a vast audience to witness the obscenely flashy military parade they put on every year in Moscow. Because of May Day being close to the scheduled date for the Schwarzwaldspitze-Pravda fight, it meant that the Germans hadn't run into much resistance during the days that surrounded May Day.

 _Waiting to pull triggers  
When the time is right_

To avoid the problem of having to move their forces almost unrealistically fast, the Russians had moved much of their equipment to the Kursk area and hid them away before going to the parade. It frustrated the Germans when they thought they had a bead on the Russian movements, but later finding out they were merely making their movements to conceal their forces. Pravda had stayed behind and played a very dangerous game of hide-and-seek with the Germans in Ukraine prior to May coming around so the rest of the Russian forces could escape and attend the May Day parade in Moscow.

 _Imminent grudge battle!  
Imminent attack!_

"I can't believe you didn't get any information from that girl, you stupid bear!" a Russian girl with blonde hair flowing freely down to her upper back and blue eyes fiercely berated someone over her phone as she walked around an airfield that was just beginning to show bustling activity. Numerous ground crews were busied with readying up the numerous Russian fighters that were based there. She was average in height and had relatively normal proportions, with one exception: she had a smaller chest than average, something she cursed regularly as it made her open to constant good-natured teasing from her friends. "Let alone letting her escape! You're so ridiculously incompetent, Kolenka, that I don't know how you got to be the _Kapitan_ of the _Tankovaya Brigada!_ "

 _Once the fight has started  
There's no turning back_

"Shut up, Sasha!" a blond-haired, blue-eyed young man snapped back over his own phone at the scolding he was getting from the _Komandir Divizii_ for Pravda's _Istrebitel'naya Aviatsionnaya Divizia._ While his tall height and well-built body could intimidate anyone else, the _Kapitan_ of Pravda's _Tankovaya Brigada_ hated that he couldn't make Sasha simply obey him like everyone else did. He both liked and cursed that strong-willed mentality of hers. Kolenka nearly punched his fist into the armor of the T-34-85 he commanded out of frustration from his humiliation, particularly from that insult about being a stupid bear, but he thought better and instead chose to simply slouch against it. "What's done is done, so let's just get ready to engage."

 _The end of the win streak draws near  
Its time!  
Has come to an end!_

"Fine, but if we lose this battle, then it's all on you," Sasha pointedly reminded Kokenka before she hung up on him. She then took a moment to breathe and relax herself. It wouldn't do good to remain all worked up about Kolenka's typical idiocy. The big bear's immaturity and ego knew no bounds, but one thing Aleksandra could reluctantly agree on with him was that it was time for them to end Schwarzwaldspitze's run. The elite German school had taken home the glory of being the undisputed best in the world for nine years running, and this year they were poised to bring home a tenth consecutive victory. Pravda's mission was to not let that happen. With that objective in mind, Sasha made her way to her La-5FN, unique from the others of its ilk in having a white number 100 on the side. " _Pozivee tam, vremya na iskhode!_ " the _Komandir Divizii_ barked across the airfield for everyone get a move on, as it was nearly time.

 _The end of an era is here  
It's time!  
To attaaaaack!_

Kolenka took a moment to stare down at his phone for a little longer, almost as if trying to will Sasha to call back and apologize for that insult. But knowing the Russian girl was never going to bow down to him, Nikolay, the leader of Pravda, he put his phone back into his pocket and made to prepare for the coming fight. Aleksandra's scathing of the Russian _Kapitan_ could be likened to poking a bear with a stick, because Kolenka always got aggravated by Sasha's stubbornness to accept him as the undisputed leader over all of Shkola No.34 'Pravda.' But now was not the time to dwell on that annoyance, because it was time to get ready for battle. " _Nachinayem!_ " the buff blonde Russian yelled at his men within the woods they had used to conceal themselves to get started in their preparation as he climbed up his T-34-85.

 _Into the motherland!  
The German army march!_

After finding out the rough location of where the battle was to take place, the Germans had split their forces into two pincers that moved to encircle the entire Kursk area, but it was a slow go due to Russian ambushes that were laid beforehand. The Russians were inflicting losses on their German foes, but they themselves were suffering great losses thanks to both the cautious pace of the German advance as well as German aviation, which had long since achieved local air superiority and therefore was free to pound the Russian positions into submission via airstrikes.

 _Comrades stand side-by-side!  
To stop Black Forest's charge_

Despite that, the Russians stubbornly resisted the German advance. In particular, the Russian heavy tanks were real nuisances to take out, even more so for those that wielded enormous guns. The KV-2 and SU-152 each had massive 152 mm guns that could take out even the heaviest of armor if they landed an HE shell in the right spot. Then there was the IS-2, both the 1943 and later 1944 models, that had a 122 mm gun capable of taking out almost any German tank out there with ease.

 _Panzers on Russian soil!  
A thunder in the east!_

But even in the face of those Russian steel walls, the German _Panzerwaffe_ had their own weapons with which to fight back and stay on the offensive. There was the _Elefant,_ a tank destroyer with armor so heavy that the Russian 122 mm cannons could only penetrate it from point-blank range, if they were lucky. Then there was also the _Jagdpanther,_ another tank destroyer with very resistant sloped armor but, more importantly, great mobility. Both had the long 88 mm PaK 43 L/71, guns that could take out every single Russian tank that could possibly be encountered, including the heavily-armored IS-2 mod. 1944.

And that didn't even take into account the relatively rare _Tiger_ IIs and the even rarer _Jagdtigers._ Both of those heavy tanks were similarly heavily-armored, if not more so due to their use of both heavy armor and sloped armor. The _Tiger_ II could only be penetrated by the Russian 122 mm guns if hit in the turret at relatively close range, while the _Jagdtiger_ was completely impenetrable to the 122 mm gun. The _Tiger_ II also used the long 88 mm gun, but the _Jagdtiger_ had the 128 mm PaK 44 L/55 cannon, a gun that was infinitely more devastating to be on the receiving end of, particularly at long range where it still retained a lot of penetration. Pravda didn't have to deal with those two titans in particular though, since Schwarzwaldspitze didn't use them. The more advanced German equipment had been deployed to the northern pincer.

 _All their people fight this war!  
Now Pravda's wrath's unleashed_

The area around the Russian city of Kursk became very reminiscent to how it was during the battle for the same area three-quarters of a century ago as the German forces continued to claw their way through the terrain. For Pravda, it became a waiting game as the day to wage battle for the glory of superiority neared. As they expected, Schwarzwaldspitze was the main spearhead for the southern pincer, meaning they were ideally not getting any rest, unlike the elite Russian school which had the chance to rest up for at least a day. The plan for them was to strike with everything they had when the elite German school was exhausted, a plan that appeared to remain viable as the day of battle neared.

 _Fields of Prokhorovka  
Where the heat of battle burned_

Eventually, the officials revealed the field of battle for Schwarzwaldspitze and Pravda when the Germans were nearly upon it: Prokhorovka. Michael Nishizumi had called it the moment it was hinted the battlefield was around Kursk somewhere. It was just too obvious in his mind.

That was when Pravda finally revealed itself to the Germans. Their forces came out from wooded cover initially as fresh reinforcements, but it was obvious that they fell under the Pravda banner judging by their insignias. That shook the Schwarzwaldspitze forces into alertness as they recognized it was time to really fight.

 _Suffered heavy losses  
And the fight's fortunes had turned_

" _Rotlila-Ein?..._ Erika?" Isabel repeatedly tried to get a hold of her younger sister over the radio, but no response came back. The black-haired teen didn't think Erika's small contingent had been shot down, but if it had, then the rest of Pravda's fighters would be coming for the _Geschwaderkommodore's_ group next. If anything, then Isabel could at least see how many Russian fighters she could take down in quick succession, because she knew it would be a lot. Pravda was nothing if not predictable: they loved using numbers to their advantage.

Down on the ground, the Russian tanks were focused on taking down the bulk of German heavy armor that was commanded by Michael. The stoic commander of _Tiger_ number _212_ never said anything to his subordinates, but he knew that victory was now no longer guaranteed. He had tried getting a status report out of his younger brother Manfred earlier about his detachment, but the commander of _Tiger_ number _217_ didn't respond. He didn't like acknowledging the possibility that the detachment had been overrun, so he instead focused on the present situation.

 _Driving back the Germans!  
Closed in on four sides!_

That present situation was being caught in a double envelopment by Pravda and being surrounded. The T-34s, both the 76 mm and 85 mm models, were easy to deal with for most of the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzers._ The real problem came from the IS-2 mod. 1943 decorated with a number _015_ on its turret.

The problem posed by that tank was its gunner's extreme accuracy, which combined with its lethal gun made it a very sore pain in the ass. The gunner himself was quite short in stature, no surprise considering how cramped Russian tanks usually were. With black hair, blue eyes, and a nearly saint-like tolerance for Kolenka, Nikita was collected and focused as ever while he unleashed the fury of the Russian 122 mm cannon with pinpoint accuracy.

 _Hunt and snuff them out  
Bring a Pravda win_

Up in the air, Pravda's array of fighters was giving Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters a very hard time. Combat was mainly done at low altitudes, below ten-thousand feet, which put the Russian Yak-1s and La-5s nearly even with the German fighters in performance.

But despite the good effort her girls were giving, Sasha felt something was just utterly _wrong_ with this scenario. Something felt off. For her, it had felt like it was too easy to break even with the German fighters. The Russian fighter ace had thought it strange when there was only one cluster of German fighters in the air. It didn't seem like a tactic Schwarzwaldspitze would use.

 _Go strafe down the frontline  
Stop Black Forest and impede_

Sasha had cursed Kolenka out over the radio big time when she got word that he wanted her forces to strafe the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerabteilung._ While she could appreciate the _idea_ of doing ground attack duty, it was something that was all but impossible for her fighters to do. Russian fighters had very little in the way of air-to-ground munitions: the La-5FNs and Yak-1Bs could only carry two 50 kg bombs, and the I-16 Type 28, despite however much Sasha adored the little fighter, could only carry two 100 kg bombs. So it was pointless in her mind to do ground attack and interdiction duty with what she had available to her.

 _Send in all that you've got  
And secure their defeat_

Sasha finally ended up telling Kolenka to stuff it, to which she got an angry tantrum as the bulky blonde's response. "Ugh, such a whiny bear..." the Russian fighter ace muttered as she endured the suffering of having to listen to the Russian bear that thought himself a tactical genius. If she had to be honest, Kolenka was absolutely a tactical genius. Just not when it came to Sasha's domain of aircraft. In that area, he was an idiot compared to the blonde Russian girl.

Finally, the Russian _Kapitan_ got over his tantrum of not getting what he wanted and simply said in a gruff tone, " _Fine. Just give the enemy everything you have._ "

 _Tanks and planes of Pravda!  
Broke Black Forest well!_

Up in the air, the Schwarzwaldspitze _Jagdwaffe_ was being pressured hard. It was impossible for them to get a chance to carry out airstrikes against the Russian tanks, even though they were desperately needed to help stem the tide. The Russian fighters were simply pushing the German fighters too hard to give them any room.

 _Ruins of their legend!  
Win streak rest in hell!_

Conversely, Pravda's forces were given a boost in morale when they saw how the Germans were fewer in number than they were before. The elite Russian school always had greater numbers than their German foes did, but it was nevertheless a boost in morale to the Russians to know that their comrades' sacrifices were not in vain, that they were making progress with defeating their enemies.

 _The end of the win streak draws near  
Its time!  
Has come to an end!_

Schwarzwaldspitze ended up switching tactics. On the ground, the _Panzerwaffe_ grouped all their remaining forces together to deliver a single powerful blow that, it was hoped, would allow them to break out of Pravda's double envelopment. The weak point they chose to strike at was at Pravda's heavy tanks, relying on their slow reload times and low numbers to give them the chance to break out.

Their _Elefant_ led the charge along with their _Jagdpanther_ toward the Russian heavies. A KV-2 spotted them and fired its enormous 152 mm gun in the direction of the _Jagdpanther,_ but because of the slow muzzle velocity of the shell, the German tank destroyer was able to avoid the HE trash can using its great mobility before stopping and firing its long 88 mm gun at the towering Russian heavy tank.

 _The end of an era is here  
It's time!  
To attaaaaack!_

The 88 mm shell struck true and took down the Russian lumbering beast. At the same time, Nikita in his IS-2 mod. 1943 wearing turret number _015_ aimed and fired at the _Elefant._ The 122 mm shell hit its mark dead-on like it always did with Nikita pulling the trigger. Unfortunately for the diminutive Russian gunner, the _Elefant's_ ungodly thick armor ate up the shell like a mid-afternoon snack, and the German _Panzerjäger's_ long 88 mm gun fired a return shell into the Russian heavy tank's relatively flat frontal armor, taking it out of the fight with ease. The doorway to break out of the pocket was opened, and Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzers_ began to funnel through it.

 _Into the motherland!  
The German army march!_

Though they were obviously inferior in numbers to Pravda, Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzers_ were still putting up a fierce fight. They had to move quickly and regroup so they could make some new plans to deal with the latest battlefield scenario. It wasn't looking pretty by any means for them, but if there was a chance, it had to be taken.

 _Comrades stand side-by-side!  
To stop Black Forest's charge_

The Russian tankers were not willing to let the Germans get out so easily, however. They fought on with just as much vigor even though they had lost their best marksman when Nikita's IS-2 was taken out by the _Elefant_ alongside Kolenka's favorite, the KV-2, after it was taken out by the _Jagdpanther._

Up in the air, things were just as fierce. Though the Russian La-5s were very capable fighters down low, so were the German Bf 109Gs. Sasha was fully aware of this after getting caught in a brief exchange of fire with Isabel, the Russian ace barely managing to escape with her plane intact thanks to the timely arrival of her comrades' aid.

 _Panzers on Russian soil!  
A thunder in the east!_

Down on the ground, the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerwaffe_ eventually forced their way out of the double envelopment after an intense exchange of fire. Numerous _Panzer_ IV Js and a lesser number of _Panther_ Gs laid across the land out of commission, and many more T-34s, of both the 76 mm and 85 mm variety, were in the same state.

 _All their people fight this war!  
Now Pravda's wrath's unleashed_

But, as always, Pravda had many more of their T-34s still up and running. The Russians still held their numerical superiority over the Germans, and they were eager to use that advantage once again. After all, 'send more men' was the number one Russian tactic. They lost a division? Send more men. They were pushed into a retreat? Send more men. They won the war already? Send more men. There were no more men left? Doesn't matter. Send more men.

Standing out of the commander's hatch of his T-34-85, Kolenka could see the German _Panzers_ retreating, and he was determined to follow them. "Onwards, comrades!" he broadly commanded across the land to his tanks. "Tankers in the service of Pravda!" He pointed onwards in a heroic gesture to emphasize his next command. " _CHARGE!_ "

 _Oh Mother Russia  
None with more land_

At the proclamation to charge forth, Pravda's tanks stormed after Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzers,_ the Russian tank crews greatly motivated by their _Kapitan's_ confidence as he led the way. It was like a scene out of a Soviet propaganda film, as the Russian tanks stampeded across the land to hunt down the retreating German _Panzers._

 _Will of her people  
Strong in command_

Up in the air, still at low altitudes, there was relatively little change in the struggle for aerial superiority. The only changes so far were how Schwarzwaldspitze's numbers had been decreased further. Pravda's fighters had also decreased in number, by a larger margin than the German fighters, but the Russians were flaunting their greater numbers as they sent more fighters to overwhelm the Germans.

 _Oh Mother Russia!  
None with more land!_

Isabel knew that very well as she landed another brief burst with her guns and felled another La-5FN before entering a zoom climb. The black-haired teen had called it from the beginning that there would be a lot of additions made to many of her pilots' kill counts, but none that day could compare to the Black Demoness in her Bf 109 G-6. Hell, Isabel herself didn't even know the exact number of Russian fighters she had downed without mercy. All that could be said was that she had shot down an awful lot of them.

 _Once more victorious  
The great Pravda staaaaands_

" _URAAAAAAAAAA!_ " was the collective battle cry passionately uttered among Pravda's tankers as they chased down Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzers_ down below. Morale was at an all-time high for the elite Russian school, because victory was within their sights. All they had to do was flush out the rest of the German _Panzers_ and they would have their long-desired triumph over their arch-enemy.

But Schwarzwaldspitze would not simply sit back and have Pravda trample over them. Though their numbers were greatly diminished, the Germans still had some highly capable machines with which to give their Russian adversaries a real headache.

After all, the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerwaffe_ still had available their _Elefant_ and _Jagdpanther,_ along with a handful of _Panthers._ If that group of monsters wasn't enough, then _Tiger_ number _212_ certainly was. The 88 mm gun on the fifty-seven-ton heavy tank seemed to be constantly smoking, having fired more in this one fight than in all other fights thus far. And to go with the heavy amount of 88 mm shells being fired, there was also practically a junkyard of metal strung out across the land, consisting of several T-34s put out of commission by the German armored beast.

Things looked bleak for them, but Michael Nishizumi still led the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerwaffe,_ or rather what remained of it, with complete resolve. He never raised his voice more than what was necessary. He wasn't somebody that could be shaken so easily. In fact, excluding his younger brother and the Hartmann sisters, nobody within Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium had ever seen the dark brunette _Tiger_ ace do so much as show a single emotion. The guy was seemingly impossible to surprise. If an enemy tried to catch him off-guard, chances were very likely that he already knew about his foe's intentions well before they put them into action. That was partly the reason why Pravda's T-34s seemed to just walk straight into his _Tiger's_ crosshairs.

Up in the air, things were looking just as bleak. Not many of Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters remained, while Pravda had more than enough to carry on. Or rather, the Russians _would_ have had more than enough to carry on if it wasn't for the one they had labeled _Chernaya Demonitsa,_ or Black Demoness. Isabel-Justina Hartmann and her Bf 109 G-6, bearing callsign _Karaya-Ein_ and wearing the black tulip nose art that was one of the proposed origins for her well-known nickname, had gone into overdrive and become far more aggressive of a fighter, as it was effectively do or die time for her.

The black-haired ultra-ace was the reason Pravda's _Komandir Divizii_ had to return back to base: Sasha's La-5 had gotten caught in the German ultra-ace's sights for barely a split-second, but Isabel made no waste of the opportunity and drove a burst of bullets into the Russian fighter. The Russian fighter ace managed to narrowly evade getting shot down and only suffered crippling damage that had to be repaired to make her La-5 competitive again. Sasha was still in the fight, make no mistake. She was just smart enough to break off the engagement with Isabel and live to fight another day.

 _The end of the win streak draws near  
Its time!  
Has come to an end!_

While Sasha was away getting her La-5 repaired, the air battle eventually dwindled down from attrition into a one-on-one dogfight between Isabel and Natasha, the _Zamestitel' Komandira_ of Pravda's _Istrebitel'naya Aviatsionnaya Diviziya._ Though her real name was Natalia, the tall Russian deputy with flowing black hair and blue eyes was often nicknamed Natasha, just like how Sasha and Kolenka were often called by their shortened names over their full names of Aleksandra and Nikolay respectively. Natasha was the very best friend of Sasha, having complete trust in her judgment. Sasha relied on her immensely, as she also had quite the talent in the skies, her most well-known skill being her extremely accurate shot placement. Such shot placement was a necessity for her fighter, a Yak-9U marked with a black number 77, because the lightweight Russian fighter did not carry much ammunition for its guns.

 _The end of an era is here  
It's time!  
To attaaaaack!_

The fight between the Russian crack shot and the German ultra-ace was very intense. It was reminiscent of the wartime aerial engagements between _Luftwaffe_ aces and the Soviets' Red Banner fighters, with the most experienced and talented of pilots giving all that they had and neither side giving each other any room to breathe.

The fight progressed that way for what felt like forever, with each side pulling out as many counter maneuvers and energy tricks as they could, but eventually Isabel was able to get an opening. She was able to close the distance with the Russian Yak-9 that tried to turn and meet the attack. The German pilot waited until she got extremely close, until the Russian fighter completely filled up her windscreen, before opening fire with her guns.

 _Into the motherland!  
The German army march!_

Natasha's Yak-9U was no more afterwards as the enemy Bf 109G's shots landed home and took her down. The fight had worked its way down to very low altitude, around five-thousand feet, meaning the Russian crack shot would end up landing her powerless Yak within a minute or two.

But after zooming away in a zoom climb, Isabel grew surprised when she felt her _Messer_ lose power all of a sudden. Looking down at her fuel gauge, she let out a loud groan of disbelieving frustration when she discovered the gauge needle was pointed all the way to the left. In other words, it was reading empty. This was the last thing the black-haired ultra-ace needed right now, because she was too far away from her airfield to simply glide there from her low altitude level.

 _Comrades stand side-by-side!  
To stop Black Forest's charge_

It sucked for Isabel, because she knew Schwarzwaldspitze no longer had the luxury to go out and search for fallen pilots, even if she managed to land behind friendly lines. She hadn't really been paying attention to how long she had been airborne, because her attention was otherwise occupied by a horde of Russian fighters that she had to shoot down. Checking her fuel level had slipped her mind. After thinking it over a bit, Isabel realized that she would've probably been in the same situation she was in currently even if she did check her fuel level, because that was one long, intense fight against that Yak.

 _Panzers on Russian soil!  
A thunder in the east!_

Down on the ground with the tank battle, Pravda continued throwing their numerous amounts of T-34s at Schwarzwaldspitze's few remaining _Panzers._ The Russians had managed to take down the _Elefant_ and _Jagdpanther_ finally, but they still had the problem of the few _Panthers_ and _Tiger_ number _212._ The German _Panzers_ were putting up a very stubborn last stand in an effort to bring Pravda down with them.

Kolenka grew frustrated at the lack of progress as he saw his tanks get slaughtered by the lone _Tiger_ H1. His solution to the problem was for him to enter the line of fire himself and take that _Tiger_ out. But, noting how there were now no more _Panthers_ to engage and how the _Tiger_ had taken down yet another T-34-85 leaving Pravda's total number of tanks extremely low, the Russian _Kapitan_ knew it wouldn't be easy.

 _All their people fight this war!  
Now Pravda's wrath's unleashed_

The battle came down to the wire as only three tanks remained in total: two of Pravda's T-34-85s and the single Schwarzwaldspitze _Tiger_ I with turret number _212._ Both sides were poised for a direct frontal engagement, as the distance was far too great to allow maneuvering before each side reloaded and was ready to fire. So it became a frontal engagement, one that would decide who took home the glory of being the best in the world.

The German _Tiger_ had smartly angled itself into the _Mahlzeit_ position, bolstering its thick armor even more and giving the Russian 85 mm guns a great challenge with trying to penetrate it. Both sides took aim at each other, with both of the Russian tanks taking aim at the _Tiger_ and the German heavy tank taking aim at Kolenka's T-34. Simultaneously, two 85 mm ZiS-S-53 cannons and one 8,8 cm KwK 36 L/56 cannon bellowed with flames at the end of their barrels and sent their dense rounds down range, in hopes to finally end the great war in the east.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** ** _The music belongs to_** **Sabaton.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**

 ** _Special thanks to_** **ChillingComrade** ** _for his Russian expertise._**


	114. Kapitel 23,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreiundzwanzig: Willkommen in Russland**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Es ist Winter in Prawda!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Kiev_ was a very common sight to those aboard the Russian school ship: snow, and a _lot_ of it. The snow was extremely heavy, as was typical when sailing in the Arctic. It took almost no time for the snow to start creating massive piles of the frozen rainfall, reaching the same height as most grown men. And that wasn't even the end of the snowfall, meaning there was plenty more to come.

And yet, despite the extreme amount of snowfall that would sway nearly anybody to go out and play in the fluffy white frozen rain, some people were still working. Like Katyusha, for instance. The diminutive Russian tank commander was stuck doing paperwork within the _Stavka,_ the slang term for Pravda's overall command center, which was really just a single office, even if it was large. Though Katyusha insisted that it was _her_ command center, and that she was simply generous enough to let Sasha use it as well.

Though it was clear by how the room was arranged that Katyusha was the one in charge, as the diminutive Russian tanker had a large wooden desk and a spacious leather chair with a large window to her rear. The chair was so spacious that Katyusha needed a few pillows to elevate herself and had to sit closer to the chair's edge, just so she could reach the desktop.

Sasha, meanwhile, had a notably smaller work area in one of the corners of the room. He had a smaller and simpler desk and chair available to him, as well as no luxury of looking outside. It wasn't much, but it was sufficient for doing mere paperwork.

Paperwork was exactly what was kicking Katyusha in the ass currently. She seemed to constantly huff out in annoyance while letting her pen fly across the sheets of paper placed before her.

It was an amusing sight, at the least, for Sasha and Nonna. The taller of the two had offered a cup of tea to the Russian fighter ace, who accepted, having long since finished his own paperwork. Now, he was simply sitting back with Pravda's crack-shot IS-2 gunner with a cup of tea in hand as they both watched Katyusha get owned by paperwork.

The midget Russian paused when she thought she heard something outside. She turned to gaze out the window and found a highly-desirable sight: there were many of Pravda's students out there playing in the snow. Having snowball fights, building snowmen, making snow angels, and more. It was so enticing to Katyusha to go out there and join them, because why should she waste the day away doing _paperwork,_ of all things, when she could go outside and have a fun day in the snow?

With that thought in her head, Katyusha jumped out of her chair and practically sprinted to the door in excitement. Nonna saw what the diminutive Russian's intentions were, and she nodded to Sasha.

That was the cue for the blonde Russian ace to roll his eyes before pushing a button under his desk. As a result of the button being pressed, a plank of wood that Katyusha was conveniently running on at the moment flipped in the direction of her desk, catapulting the diminutive Russian back to her work area. The trap was aimed so well that Katyusha had landed directly back in her chair.

Smugness grew on Sasha's face at the sight of his self-designed, self-engineered trap working flawlessly. To reward him for his efforts in building the trap upon her request, Nonna gave the Russian fighter ace another cup of tea.

Katyusha remained stunned wondering what the hell just happened for several seconds, until she caught that look on Nonna's face. The glare the taller Russian was sending the shorter Russian was one that basically said, 'you better do your work or so help me I will lock you in this room and make you stare outside at everyone playing in the snow, reminding you of what you couldn't have because you refused to do your work.'

At that harsh message, the diminutive Russian tanker hurriedly began to do her work. She was blowing through her work so fast that she was literally making it rain as she tossed paper after paper behind her without a second thought to them after quickly finishing whatever was needed on there. Nonna moved behind her to catch and collect each sheet of finished paperwork as it was tossed behind Katyusha's chair, the tall Russian sharpshooter deciding to organize them later when she had adequate time.

Sasha watched the two Russian girls for a while before lazily rolling his eyes, bored. Normally, it wasn't so boring to watch the two tankers, but the Russian fighter ace felt like doing something else now, something having to do with the snow outside. He then got up and left the room without a word, preparing to head outside.

XXXXXXXXXX

Eventually, Katyusha finished all of the paperwork that was required of her, and after getting dressed up for the weather in record time, she headed outside into the snow. Her snow outfit included an old Red Army winter coat as well as a _ushanka_ in addition to her usual outfit. Many of Pravda's students were already out and about messing around in the snow, and upon seeing the great Katyusha herself join them, they gave her a hearty welcome.

What Pravda's students did not expect, however, was for Katyusha to charge at and kick a snowman, destroying it with one swift blow. Nina certainly wasn't prepared for that, and she grew upset from her snowman being mercilessly leveled by Katyusha.

The diminutive Russian _Panzerkraft Kapitan_ started to shovel snow together into a snowball. Once it was big enough, Katyusha then started rolling the snowball along the ground, getting even more snow packed onto it and making it larger and larger. Soon enough, Nina joined in, having forgotten why she was previously upset when she saw the massive snowball Katyusha was pushing around, and joining in to help.

After getting sufficient snow, the two small Russian tankers then started to build a new snowman. Some sticks, a couple of coins, and a pair of gloves were added into the snowman to make it seem more life-like. By the time the snowman was finished, it effectively represented a stoic Nonna, but there were some gross exaggerations, in particular with how large her chest was as well as how fat and lethargic she looked in general.

That wasn't deemed a problem to Katyusha and Nina, as the both of them started to laugh at their wintery interpretation of the IS-2 crack-shot. They found their interpretation of Nonna to be utterly hilarious.

What neither of them realized, however, was that the real Nonna was crouched behind them, taking in the snowy version of herself with her usual serene, calm look. By the time Nina and Katyusha realized the tall Russian girl was right behind them, it was comical how quickly they stopped laughing and immediately started to grow terrified of what awaited them as retaliation.

That was when Nudelmann came to the rescue. Well, in a way, as he ushered the three girls back from the snowman Nonna. The reason behind their removal from the area surfaced a few seconds later as a strange sound, overall similar to that of a large-displacement radial engine, but notably different.

A little later, it was made clear that the girls were moved to allow Sasha to land his plane, the fighter-sized aircraft humorously chopping up the snowman Nonna with its propeller as it halted after taxiing. But the oddest thing about Sasha's La-5 was that it was completely made of snow.

Katyusha and Nina were too in awe with the fact that an actual working aircraft made of _snow_ had been created to even care that their snowman was destroyed by the very same creation. Nonna shot a questioning glance to Nudelmann, who shrugged noncommittally, answering her unspoken question: it was Engineer Sasha they were talking about, after all. _Of course_ he could build an actual working aircraft using snow. As if to confirm the notion, and show off even more, the Russian fighter ace chose to let out a burst of fire from the two nose-mounted cannons on his snow fighter.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Katyusha, Nonna, and Nudelmann left Sasha to run rampant on creating more machines out of snow. He was on an engineering role, so the other three Russians chose to leave him to his element. They chose to head over and try some other snow activities.

Katyusha grew enamored when she caught sight of a small igloo, and she immediately rushed to enter the small snowy architecture. Two girls were already in there chatting, but when Katyusha made her grand entrance, they gladly welcomed her into the dome of snow, bringing the total number of girls within to three.

After a little while, though, a large shadow was cast over the entrance of the igloo. The source was revealed when Nudelmann dipped his head down to peer into the igloo. It was a bit unsettling to the three girls inside because of how tall and imposing the Russian aerial sharpshooter appeared to be.

The girls grew even more antsy when Nudelmann chose to invite himself into the igloo. It was a challenging process because of how tall the black-haired Russian was. It required him to squirm and weave like a snake to try and get his body into _just_ the right position to allow himself entry into the igloo.

Eventually, Nudelmann managed to wedge himself inside the igloo. The snow dome was already small, but with the Russian crack pilot inside, it felt undeniably constricting within the snowy walls. Nudelmann had to curl up into a ball just to fit inside, but even then, there was practically no space to move at all. Not even toes could be wiggled without discomfort.

It was a great understatement to say the girls within the igloo were uncomfortable. Nonna watched the scene from outside, and her shoulders shook in silent laughter at how ridiculous and comical the scene looked. She even had a camera out to record the events, because she knew she would get a lot of use out of a video of the scene.

But Nudelmann's nose started to twitch, and his breath grew unsteady as he looked about ready to let rip a sneeze. That was something that seemed about equivalent to hearing a cannon fire in one's direction, as such a moment was typically the point of no return.

Nudelmann let nature take its course and let out the ruler of all sneezes. The sound waves from said sneeze were sharp and intense enough to cause the igloo to crumble in on itself and collapse, burying the three girls that were in it with snow in the process.

The commotion with Nudelmann and the igloo attracted a lot of the other Russian students due to how loud the Russian crack pilot's sneeze was. While many of Pravda's students came over in curiosity as to what happened, Nonna kept on recording the scene with her camera, knowing that somewhere on the internet her video would soon resurface within a Russian fails compilation for millions to see.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later still saw a large snowball fight break out amongst the Pravda student body. The fight eventually formed two distinct opposing forces, but the force compositions were haphazard in nature; the people on each side were randomly picked. Curiously enough, Sasha and Nudelmann weren't present. But that was perhaps a good thing for the rest of Pravda, because the two fighter aces always took snowball fights to the next level of intensity.

But no, that wasn't the case as of yet. Instead, it was just the rest of Pravda's students having a fun team-based snowball fight with each other. The intensity of this snowball fight was not very high at all.

Just as Nonna stood up after gathering some snowballs of her own, she watched as Nina nailed Katyusha in the face with a snowball. Katyusha whipped her head back and forth to get the snow off while Nina whooped in celebration of landing a hit on the _Kapitan._

At that sight, Nonna quickly whipped three snowballs into her left hand, each one resting between her fingers. Then, the Russian sharpshooter quickly threw the snowballs at Nina. All three snowballs hit the smaller Russian somewhere in the face: two hit her directly in each eye while the other impacted her mouth.

After releasing her load of snowballs with her left hand, Nonna then turned around and whipped out another snowball with her right hand. She tossed it over her shoulder without looking, and then started to walk away. The snowball bonked Nina on the top of her head, which proved to be the hay that broke the camel's back as the smaller Russian toppled over from the quick wintery fury she experienced.

Some of the Russians on Nina's side just looked at the smaller Russian while shaking their heads. They knew that something like what she experienced would befall them if they ever hit Katyusha with a snowball, so none bothered to take that risk.

Soon enough, the snowball fight continued to rage on as everyone began to pelt each other with snowballs again. During this time, Katyusha had taken Nonna as her steed, sitting on top of the taller Russian's shoulders and throwing snowballs at the enemies down below. The Russian sharpshooter had her arms full of snowballs, providing the diminutive Russian tank commander on her shoulders with a constant source of ammunition.

The two leaders for the _Panzerkraft_ team made a very successful duo, as Katyusha landed snowball after snowball on target while Nonna stayed mobile enough to ensure they didn't get trapped by the enemy. The Russian sharpshooter also took advantage of blocking any snowballs coming straight for them whenever possible.

A large, distant, echoing boom was soon heard, however, and everyone stopped undertaking combat with each other as confusion set in. The sound they had just heard was comparable to a cannon in its note, a rather large one to boot, which threw many of the Russians for a loop. Katyusha and Nonna, however, grew looks of dread when they discovered there was only one reason why that sound would be produced. And they knew the two culprits behind it, too.

XXXXXXXXXX

Much farther down the ship was where Sasha and Nudelmann were positioned at. They were in the middle of a rather large clearing, because they needed the vast amount of space to launch the kind of attack they wanted to enact.

After pulling the trigger and unleashing the large, echoing boom that radiated across the land, Nudelmann looked back to Sasha. Both of the Russians had earplugs on, needed to protect their eardrums from the heavy boom, but they still expressed their enthusiasm for winning this snowball fight with a high-five.

They were almost guaranteed to win this snowball fight, because Sasha had built a 305 mm Br-18 howitzer using snow, and because it was the Engineer building it, it fucking worked just like the original models that were famously used to defend Leningrad during the war. That was why such a large clearing was needed for the Russian boys' attack: the massive artillery cannon was simply too big and heavy to move on a whim.

And, because it was Cannoneer Nudelmann firing the wintery super-heavy siege howitzer, the massive 305 mm snow-shells were guaranteed to land in the middle of the other snowball-fighting Russians and utterly annihilate all of the opposition. Overkill? Yes, without a shred of doubt. But that was the Russian way. Or at the very least, it was the Pravda _Jägermeistern_ way.

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon enough, night fell upon the _Kiev._ Though the Russian school ship was traveling within the Arctic, it was that odd time of year where the day and night cycles were in transition with each other. Normally, there were either extremely long days or extremely long nights at the poles, but because the equinox was near, the lengths of day and night respectively were close to the duration experienced elsewhere on the planet.

Because night had fallen, all the Pravda students had headed home, including the foursome of commanders for their Arts of Warfare programs. Many ached from the sudden strike by a 305 mm snow howitzer, but it was still a fun day, they all agreed despite that massively heavy artillery strike out of nowhere.

Though Katyusha came inside willingly, Sasha stubbornly wanted to stay outside. He was still on an engineering high and didn't want to be interrupted from it. Nudelmann ended up having to drag the struggling blonde Russian fighter ace back inside. Passing by Nonna, who was helping Katyusha undress from her winter clothes, the Russian crack pilot gave her a nod, silently saying he could handle Sasha.

Nudelmann dragged the resisting blonde Russian fighter ace to the shower stalls. After undressing him in a rough manner thanks to his resistance efforts, he threw Sasha into one of the stalls. He then slammed the door shut and chained it to ensure it would stay shut.

Sasha beat on the other side of the door for a while in an attempt to escape, but soon enough he stopped, realizing there was no way he was going to get out. He knew he couldn't climb up the stall's walls to try and escape, either, because the walls were too slippery. So the Russian ace begrudgingly turned on the hot water and began to shower like Nudelmann had wanted him to do.

The hot water was pretty damn refreshing after spending a day in the cold. It was so relaxing of a feeling that Sasha stopped washing himself off and instead leaned against the stall wall to let the hot water envelop him.

Nudelmann had started up a shower of his own in the stall next door, but he noted a lack of scrubbing sounds from Sasha's stall. So as he undressed outside his stall, he grew a dastardly smirk and took out a thermos bottle. He entered his stall and peered over the wall next to him. Being as tall as he was, he could see Sasha slumped against the same wall from his side.

It might've been cruel to do this, but Nudelmann knew Sasha would eventually get over it. So the black-haired sharpshooter opened up his thermos bottle, reached over the wall with it, and dumped its contents straight onto Sasha. The contents within consisted of nothing but fresh snow, which explained how the action was cruel.

As soon as the frozen substance impacted Sasha's pale skin, the Russian ace screamed bloody murder in reaction to the massive temperature change he experienced. Being doused in fresh snow was infinitely worse when standing under a stream of hot water, because the temperature difference between the two made the cold absolutely burn.

But like he had already determined beforehand, Nudelmann knew Sasha would get over it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Snow continued to fall down to the ground outside, even in the black of night when nobody was outside any longer to play in it.

But still standing tall in one of the snow-covered fields were a vast array of creations, all made of snow. There was a KV-2, and parked alongside the towering Russian heavy tank was an IS-2 mod. 1944. Parked behind the two Russian heavies were an La-5FN and a Yak-9UT resting on their taildragger landing gear.

Judging by all of the machines created in perfect detail using only snow as well as functioning perfectly – well, as perfectly as Russian machinery could function – it must've been quite an eventful day for Sasha.

The great handiwork from the Russian amateur engineer just further reinforced the notion that if snow has piled up, people _will_ go play outside. Even in high school.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	115. Kapitel 23,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Dreiundzwanzig: Willkommen in Russland**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Eine verschmähte Heldin**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"So," Kolenka casually began as he held his Tokarev TT pistol aimed at his target with just one hand. He had a smirk displaying how in control of the situation he was, something the _Kapitan_ of Pravda Srednyaya Shkola's _Tankovaya Brigada_ loved to possess whenever possible. He was someone who was completely unfamiliar with the sensation of not having complete control over something. "May I know the name of this unbelievably good-looking girl that just so happened to fall out of the sky right in front of me?"

Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann knew she was in a very compromising position, what with being held at gunpoint by the leader of Schwarzwaldspitze's arch-rival. It wasn't made any easier by the fact she was wearing nothing more than her black undergarments – don't ask – but the blond-haired ultra-ace held her ground and betrayed no elements of fear on her face or with her actions. "You can call me Erika," she gave out, deciding to acquiesce at least her first name to the blonde bulking Russian aiming the pistol at her.

Kolenka raised an eyebrow, but kept his shit-eating smirk. This girl very much intrigued him, because normally anyone else would be shivering before him in utter terror. But not Erika. He wanted to learn more about her, but that would have to be pushed back until later.

The burly Russian's interrogation of the young German girl would have to wait because the two of them were out in the open, where anyone could spot them. Erika's unique Bf 109 G-6 was resting behind its pilot with no sign of getting back in the air, while behind Kolenka was the T-34-85 he commanded. The two of them could not remain in the open because the blonde Russian knew he would be spotted if he stayed a moment longer. As the saying went, business before pleasure. But Kolenka _very_ much intended to get some pleasure out of this while he could.

Erika thought back to earlier that day, about how in the hell things got to this point. The day started out as any other day would in the east: just another day getting up in the air and shooting down scores of Russian fighters. The blond-haired girl was too lazy to bother suiting up and went up into the air wearing nothing but her black bra and matching black panties. She ended up thanking herself for that decision later, because it was hot as hell that day in Ukraine.

It was just a normal day for her, until a load of shrapnel struck her 109, courtesy of the Yak-1 she had shot down earlier. The parts that flew off the Russian fighter had somehow found their way to the _Gustav,_ impacting the German fighter with a hail of shrapnel. After all was said and done, Erika's fighter had its oil tank pierced, and eventually the blonde had to force-land, too far away to glide back to her airfield.

Though she had a _Luftwaffe_ M30 _Drilling_ combination rifle/double-barrel shotgun stowed away in her 109 just in case, Erika was quickly outmatched when a T-34-85 had driven up to the at-rest _Gustav._ There was no way she could compete with a tank with what she had, so she did the smart thing and raised her arms in surrender, lowering her weapon when the order to do so was barked by the blonde bulky commander.

Despite how much her fellow _Jagdgeschwader_ comrades criticized her for being asleep all the time during lectures, Erika was a very smart girl. She perhaps wasn't someone who exerted all possible effort into learning, but she was still an intelligent girl. She was someone who was more street-smart than book-smart, someone who had great instincts.

And her instincts now were telling her to not put up a fight against Kolenka, because that was a fight she would not walk away from victorious. Oh, sure, she would still live, considering that the Russian's Tokarev was no doubt loaded with rubber rounds. But it would still hurt like hell if she got shot by those rounds, enough to stun and immobilize her easily.

She could also recognize by instinct the type of person Kolenka was: he was someone who would undergo any means necessary to get what he wanted. It was just so unlucky for Erika that his current want turned out to be her.

Kolenka used his free hand to point behind him to his T-34-85 while also keeping his Tokarev aimed at the blonde German girl. "Get in the tank," he ordered.

Erika had no choice but to obey the command, because if not, then she would be royally fucked. She didn't discount the possibility that she could be royally fucked in the most literal sense of the phrase, either, because she could see in the bulky Russian's gaze that he could become extremely cruel to get what he wanted out of her, if it was necessary. So Erika slowly got onto the T-34-85, being cautious so as not to give Kolenka a reason to shoot her, and dropped into the commander's hatch of the Russian tank.

And that was how Erika ended up being captured and taken farther east. Inside that Russian tank was the hottest place she had ever been. By that token, she was somewhat glad she had only worn her black undergarments, because she would've been on fire by now in anything heavier than that.

But she also cursed her choice to go with just undergarments that day, because she was forced to sit in front of Kolenka within the cramped interior of the Russian medium tank. It was humiliating, to say the least, when the Russian practically shoved her down to the floor and pinned her torso back toward him with his legs, which led to Erika's head being situated in between his legs as he commanded the T-34. Thankfully, she didn't have to face the brutish Russian and look at him. That would've been even worse, because she could already picture the taunting that would occur if that was the case.

But it was discomfiting when he started absently running his hands through her short blonde hair. The fact that he was making an effort to do so gently unnerved Erika, because she was now even more afraid of what could possibly happen if she went against Kolenka when he held _this_ much of an interest in her. In particular, she was getting a bad vibe that he would simply bend her over and fuck her into submission if she did something he didn't like. Erika had heard stories about how brutal the Russians could be, but the possibility of being on the receiving end of such brutality terrified her.

But she didn't betray that feeling at all. To the outside world, she appeared to have a blank mood. She was convinced that she would eventually get back home, whether it be via a rescue mission or her taking the initiative and escaping. For now, though, she had to wait and bide her time.

 _The dawn of grudge meeting  
Lone girl caught in Ukraine_

It was a long, uncomfortable ride for Erika as the T-34-85 that acted as her transport traveled further east. During that time, she retained her blank mood, but the gears in her head turned faster than ever before as she ran many scenarios through her head. She knew she had to get back to her comrades before the fight between Schwarzwaldspitze and Pravda occurred. She was determined to not be useless to them, especially when a tenth consecutive overall victory was on the line.

 _Transported to Pravda's domain_

She was interrupted from her thoughts, though, by Kolenka as he used his hand to turn her head toward him. "Welcome to _Rossiya,_ " he revealed their itinerary with a dark grin. The Russian was loving how submissive Erika was with regards to her actions, but he knew that she had a fire to her that was just waiting to boil to the surface. He wanted to see if he could quench that fire, or if that failed, then to see how much futile resistance she could put up against him when she snapped.

 _Gone to a land overpowered!  
As the great fight neared_

After reaching their destination and getting out of the T-34, Kolenka was quick to get Erika back to his room before anyone saw her. Everyone involved in Pravda's Arts of Warfare program was too occupied watching the May Day parade to notice the two. The blonde German girl, however, managed to catch a glimpse of a map laid out on a table before she was ushered out of the area where Pravda's tanks were tucked away. From that brief glance, she was able to deduce that she was somewhere south of Kursk. Well, great. That made the task of getting back to friendlies even harder, considering they were by now likely only just reaching the Ukrainian-Russian border, and that was being optimistic.

 _Unleashed her shadow on this world!_

Until she could get an opportunity to escape or was rescued, Erika resolved to make herself useful while she was held captive by Kolenka. She purposely submitted to the burly Russian's demands, and for that, she was able to gain the opportunity to observe Pravda and gather intelligence. Kolenka's massive ego made him want to trot around his tamed prize for everyone to see; he was pleasantly surprised by the German girl obeying his every whim, no matter how embarrassing, which inflated his great ego even more. Erika used that time spent outside his room to gather as much information as she could about Pravda's forces. She was deep undercover now.

 _Whoooooaaaaa, no!  
Whoooooaaaaa, no!  
Whooooo knows her name?_

While Kolenka toured Pravda's positions to get reports on everyone's status, Erika stayed beside him as his little personal pet. The blonde German girl had hardened herself to be able to endure whatever the Russian could throw at her, which at the moment consisted of being trotted around like a pet. It was made even more embarrassing and humiliating by how Kolenka kept her in her black undergarments the whole time.

It was humiliating, but Erika endured it without betraying a single ounce of emotion on her face. She kept her focus on her self-appointed mission: to gather intelligence on Pravda. As Kolenka chatted with those reporting to him, Erika subtly listened into the conversations to try and gleam anything useful out of them.

 _Living through hell  
A heroine imprisoned_

Her situation was easily comparable to being a slave. She had long since lost hope of getting aid from anyone in Pravda. The other Russians simply turned a blind eye to Kolenka's antics with Erika, because everyone knew better than to go against him. That basically left the blonde German girl to fend for herself and do one of two things: bide her time and hope Schwarzwaldspitze sends a rescue team for her, or pave her own path to escape.

 _Pilot in Russia  
Who knows her name?_

"Ugh," Sasha scrunched her face up in disgust when Kolenka came to see her and brought Erika along. "You're such a bear, Kolenka." The Russian _Komandir Divizii_ was perhaps the only person Erika had seen so far that _didn't_ bend over to Kolenka's will, as she had immediately displayed an obvious disgust with him when he brought the blond-haired ultra-ace with him. Perhaps she was Erika's ticket out, but also, maybe she wasn't, considering she was the _Komandir_ of Pravda's _Istrebitel'naya Aviatsionnaya Diviziya._

Sasha was a bit curious about Kolenka's girl-toy, because she swore she looked familiar. Erika thanked her lucky stars, though, that the Russian ace didn't recognize her. While they had never met before then, Erika's striking resemblance to her older sister made it relatively easy for most to identify the connection she had to Schwarzwaldspitze. The blonde German girl was eternally lucky that she wasn't recognized, otherwise she was guaranteed to be put under lock and key and endlessly interrogated.

 _Toll of the bell  
Yet plans war from her prison_

Over her time spent as Kolenka's pet, Erika was always under constant threat from the big burly Russian himself. He never looked to be more than a twitch of the muscles away from pinning her against the wall and brutally fucking her into submission. Yet somehow, Kolenka managed to never get physical with her. That worked out well for Erika, because that meant she had done nothing to get on his bad side.

Even under the oft-repeated threats of getting bent over and brutally fucked into submission if she ever disobeyed, Erika continued her mission of gathering intelligence on Pravda. Hopefully the intel would be of use during the Schwarzwaldspitze-Pravda fight coming up soon.

 _Hiding in Russia  
Who hides behind Rotlila-Ein?_

"I wouldn't hope to ever get rescued if I was you," Kolenka darkly grinned as he continued to play his game with Erika, who was trapped by his massive body, the wall, and his arms on either side of the wall. The hulking Russian was trying to get the comparatively tiny German girl to crack from his scathing words and taunts; Kolenka wanted to break Erika. "It's clear that nobody there cares about you one bit. Otherwise, they would've already come to rescue you by now. But no. You're simply another disposable part to them that was tossed away as trash. You're useless. Unwanted."

 _Outside help never came  
She decided to break free_

Erika resisted Kolenka's verbal onslaught with plenty of defiance in her face and didn't let him break her, but it didn't change the truth of at least part of his words: nobody had come to her rescue thus far. So the blond-haired ultra-ace determined that she must break out if she ever wanted to get back to Schwarzwaldspitze before the fight against Pravda started. So when Kolenka grew alert after a nighttime air raid in the area, Erika took that as her chance to act.

The big burly Russian was stunned, for lack of a better term, that the Germans had found Pravda's base of operations, as he made sure his forces were concealed well. It was no secret that Pravda was a master in the art of _maskirovka._ But Kolenka was soon literally stunned when he felt a chop strike him in the neck. Though not a very forceful strike, it was powerful in the sense that the Russian dropped unconscious like a sack of potatoes thanks to the strike being aimed at key nerves.

 _She's harmless, the fool so believed_

Erika looked down at the unconscious Kolenka at her feet for a moment. " _Dummkopf,_ " she commented how he was an idiot for underestimating her before moving quickly. She dug up an old Soviet-era trench coat and _ushanka._ She donned both to at least get something to cover herself up with and to make it harder to recognize her before booking it out of Pravda's barracks.

However, she was not able to evade the eye of Sasha. The Russian fighter ace was ordering around the rest of Pravda's _Istrebitel'naya Aviatsionnaya Diviziya_ in response to the German nighttime air raid, but she managed to spot Erika out of the corner of her eye. Sasha gave a look of understanding toward the blonde German girl and turned back to attend to her current duties, not bothering to stop Erika's escape. Erika blinked at that, but quickly moved on and continued her escape. Perhaps the enemy _Komandir Divizii was_ her ticket out.

Sasha cared not for how Kolenka would react when he got word of what happened, because she was ready to tear him a new one for hatching such a stupid idea in the first place.

 _Joined the fierce battle, fight in the skies!  
Hid her time held hostage_

Erika was eventually able to make her way back to German lines, though she was quite pissed when one of the members of the patrol that found her had fired upon her. The shot passed between her legs, through the trench coat she had taken from Pravda. No harm came to her, but it still pissed her off to be shot at in the first place.

Afterwards, Erika was able to get back to Schwarzwaldspitze's base of operations on the night preceding the Schwarzwaldspitze-Pravda fight. Isabel had tried to ask where she had been for so many days, but got no chance to and let it drop. Clearly, her younger sister was tired out from whatever it was she had done, so Isabel let her sleep.

Erika made no mention of what happened the next morning, because it would've interrupted preparations for the big fight. Instead, she kept silent on her time spent in Kolenka's captivity. Once again, she didn't want to be a burden during this time. She simply suited up and climbed into her recovered and repaired Bf 109 G-6 to join the fight.

 _Takes command all while helping her comrades in need!_

"Just get them away from me!" Erika ordered the remaining pilots in her small flight. She had led a small flight separate from Schwarzwaldspitze's main concentration of aircraft to force Pravda to have to look over their shoulders, but the blond-haired ultra-ace called for a change of plans amongst her flight after Hanna Jochen's Bf 109 F-4 was downed after some Russian fighters ambushed the flight. That was problematic because the trees below were very unforgiving to crash landings. That set off an instinct in Erika to try and rescue Hanna, because she just had a nagging feeling something would go to shit. "Don't worry about me!"

If she had to be honest, Erika had already known even before breaking off with her small flight from Schwarzwaldspitze's remaining fighters that this idea wasn't anywhere close to being guaranteed to work. Pravda simply had such a great numerical advantage that really _any_ plan would've been hard to execute against them. Luck just wasn't on their side, and this latest development was just another thread in a string of bad luck.

 _Whoooooaaaaa, no!  
Whoooooaaaaa, no!  
Whooooo knows her name?_

Erika took the time Pravda's fighters were distracted by what remained of her flight to her advantage and set down her 109 by the forest's edge. She then jumped out and proceeded into the forest to try and find her comrade. It wasn't difficult to find Hanna, because her own 109 had caught fire, much to Erika's fear. Even though she didn't get why Hanna was always so snappy with her, and even if she was extremely overconfident and cocky, Erika still saw her as a comrade-in-arms, which was why she had practically abandoned her previous role in favor of trying to save Hanna.

Upon reaching the fallen _Friedrich,_ Erika had to watch her breath to stop from breathing in the smoke from the fire that broke out. Judging by the smell, it was likely a combination of several causes as to how the fire got to its current state, but it was discernible that it wasn't a fuel fire. Otherwise Hanna would've already burned to a crisp seeing as the Bf 109's L-shaped fuel tank was below and behind the cockpit.

 _Living through hell  
A heroine imprisoned_

Erika immediately jumped onto the port wing of the still-burning Bf 109 and tried to pry the canopy open. It wasn't the safest of moves, but she had to do what was necessary, because Hanna was no help whatsoever. The perfectionistic blonde was unconscious, likely from either the impact of crash landing or a lack of oxygen in the canopy from the fire that broke out.

After getting the scorching-hot canopy open, Erika quickly swung it to the side and grabbed Hanna before jumping down. She then shoulder-carried her and put distance from the fire until reaching the edge of the forest where she had come in from.

 _Pilot in Russia  
Who knows her name?_

Erika had to quickly drop into a prone position, unleashing a pained groan from Hanna, because there were a couple of Pravda's T-34 1942s in the area. Her 109 was shredded to bits and laying as scrap metal. She was behind enemy lines again, this time with someone who needed help badly. Hanna had a number of burns over parts of her skin and face from her predicament earlier. Erika had to hide them both from the Russians because she knew from experience, recent experience, that they were cruel and probably wouldn't help them out at all.

 _Toll of the bell  
Yet plans war from her prison_

Erika had to lay deathly still at one point when the T-34s stopped pretty close to her and Hanna's location. The Russian crews had started talking with each other over something. Erika didn't know what, but what she _did_ know was that if any one of them looked not just a smidgeon down from their level, they would find two blonde heads of hair, Hanna and Erika, lying in the shrubbery. A few times Hanna let out some pained moans, which Erika silenced by covering her mouth with her hand.

 _Hiding in Russia  
Who hides behind Rotlila-Ein?_

Luckily for the two Germans, the Russian tankers soon ended their conversation and their T-34s drove off away from the area. At that point, Erika deemed it safe to uncover Hanna's mouth, which unleashed some hacking coughs from the _Friedrich_ ace.

After that close brush with the enemy, Erika was on the move again in an effort to find help, supporting Hanna via an arm around her shoulders. It wasn't easy by any means considering the nearest source of help was likely miles away from them. Add to that the overwhelming likelihood that they would be discovered by the Russians and taken captive, and things were not in Erika's favor at all.

Another time arose where she heard the distinct diesel exhaust notes of Russian tanks, and like before, she found her and Hanna a place to drop to the ground and hide from view using the grass. But accompanying the exhaust sound were also the sounds of cannons firing and shell impacts. It chilled Erika to the bone that she might've been discovered. By instinct, she got Hanna up off the ground and started to run.

But the unmistakable sound of an 8,8 cm KwK 36 L/56 cannon told the blond-haired ultra-ace the cause of the cannon fire: allied _Panzers._ Braving a peek around a tree, she caught just in time _Tiger_ number _217_ destroying the Russian T-34-85s that she had heard before seeing.

Erika nearly cried out of relief then as three _Panzers_ advanced forward: two _Panzer_ III J1s and _Tiger_ number _217._ She hoisted Hanna up and along with her arm around her shoulders while waving high with her free hand in an effort to get the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzers_ to notice her.

Manfred Nishizumi was honestly horrified when he saw Erika limp Hanna along to his _Tiger,_ though he did his best to push down that feeling. Looking at Hanna's various burns and how rough Erika's appearance was, he could see that they needed help. The light brunette was concerned that something like this would happen one day in the Arts of Warfare, hence why he didn't much embrace being part of the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerwaffe_ early on. If he had to choose, he would always put his friends' well-being before his orders, which was something he knew his father held zero tolerance for.

But he stood firm in his beliefs as he helped the two blonde German girls up onto the engine deck of his _Tiger_ I, being sure to help Hanna on first and carefully so. "Change of plans," he spoke into his headset to the rest of his detachment. "We need to get these two to safety and get them help."

It was that easy for Manfred to disobey orders. If it was his friends on the line, then he would gladly disobey orders if it meant he could help them, especially so in the case of his best of friends, Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann, needing his assistance.

As she looked over Hanna again and did her best to give some rudimentary aid to her on the _Tiger's_ engine deck, Erika didn't like how she was being so counterproductive to the fight. Don't get her wrong, she would choose helping a comrade over a victory any day of the week. It's just that she was starting to feel utterly powerless and felt like she was bringing everyone else down with her. No matter how much she denied it, she could still feel Kolenka's taunts affecting her mindset.

 _Silenced by sister as a heroine judged a traitor  
Accused of betrayal by her own_

" _Schweigen!_ " a royally-pissed Isabel-Justina Hartmann sharply demanded her sister be silent, interrupting the blonde's attempt to explain what had happened. The Schwarzwaldspitze-Pravda fight was over, with the Russians victorious, even though they had only one tank remaining. It was no wonder the black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ was pissed: Isabel had always been a fiercely competitive person, and to lose to Pravda left an extremely sour taste in her mouth. She grew even more bitter when she recalled how Erika never answered her calls over the radio for her, for what she assumed was the blonde abandoning her post and disobeying orders. "Why can't you just do as you're told like anyone else?! Why must you be such a _bane?!_ "

Erika was scared that something like this would happen even before committing to it, but the inevitable confrontation with her older sister went a _lot_ worse than she had expected it to go. Isabel gave her an extremely scathing and derisive scolding, displaying just how royally pissed she was with Erika. Those brown eyes were filled with so much anger directed at the blonde, the likes of which she had never seen before. Isabel was unrecognizable to Erika at that moment. She only wanted to tell her what _really_ happened during the fight on her end, as well as where she had been for the days preceding the fight, but having such hostility directed at her made Erika want to just curl up into a little ball to get away from it all.

After a few minutes, Isabel finally ran out of words to berate her little sister with. "Get out of my sight," she rudely dismissed as she turned around, the edge of her jacket flipping with the motion. "I can't even look at you right now."

 _Spat on by countrymen under the name of common sentiment  
Those she once fought beside_

Something snapped within Erika. It felt as if her whole world had come crashing down after enduring that scathing from Isabel. As the blond-haired ultra-ace walked back with her head hung down, she had to endure all of the spiteful words that the rest of the _Jagdgeschwader_ aimed her way. It seemed after drawing her sister's ire that Erika's eyes were opened up. She now saw that the rest of the _Jagdgeschwader_ had never liked her in the first place, only putting up with her because of her talent. But now, they were free to throw their hatred out into the open after Isabel did so, venting their massive frustration with the loss to Pravda onto Erika.

All of those words of scorn for abandoning her comrades and causing Schwarzwaldspitze to lose were getting to the young German ace. Her sister's attitude towards her especially was what got to her the most. It was then that Kolenka's words resurfaced within Erika's mind: ' _You're simply another disposable part to them that was tossed away as trash. You're useless. Unwanted._ '

It was then that Erika drew the conclusion she most didn't want to draw: Kolenka was right. Nobody in Schwarzwaldspitze cared for her. The heartlessness shown by Isabel toward her was all the proof she needed, and that was exactly what broke the blond-haired ultra-ace.

After getting back that night to where she stayed with Isabel and the two Nishizumis during the campaign in the east, Erika scrawled out a note to leave on the table, tears dropping from her eyes from the pain her sister's wrath had left her in. She just couldn't take it anymore, such hostility. It had broken her to discover that her sister's love was _not_ unconditional. It was like the life was sucked out of her upon that discovery, because for the longest time Erika and Isabel had greatly loved each other as sisters. And then that notion was abruptly turned on its head after the Schwarzwaldspitze-Pravda fight. So Erika decided she had to leave and go somewhere far, far away to try and escape that pain.

Erika figured she should at least leave a note behind to inform the others of what she was up to, even if she felt it would be immediately scrapped, but she went ahead anyways with it. She silently reviewed it.

' _I'm sorry I wasn't good enough for your love, Isabel. I tried and tried my hardest to make you proud of me, but I guess I wasn't trying hard enough. Perhaps I was going in the wrong direction the whole time. You can consider this as my resignation from the Jagdgeschwader, but if I can make one last request, then please make sure you pick someone worthy of being your next Oberleutnant. I still want to see the team do well, even if I'm not a part of it anymore. With that being said, then I guess this is goodbye. I will always love you, Isabel, never forget that. I just can't deal with the pain of that love being unrequited. That's why I need to leave. So, goodbye, Schwester. -Erika_ '

 _Living through hell (Black devil!)  
A heroine imprisoned (Fearless hero! No regrets!)_

Deciding that was sufficient, she left her finished note and headed for the door to leave before anyone else came back, but she stopped upon finding Manfred Nishizumi standing before her. The light brunette raised his eyebrows in concern for Erika's distraught appearance. After taking in her state, he tentatively handed a small box with a bow to her. "It might be late in the day, but I didn't forget," Manfred said after she took it.

Erika grew confused briefly, but when she opened the box and pulled out a knife with her name, Erika, engraved into the hilt along with an engraving of the flower of the same name underneath, she let out even more tears upon discovering what he meant by those words. Because of everything that happened recently, she had forgotten it was also her birthday that day, May 8th. The fact that her best friend had still gotten her a present even after what happened earlier that day made her start to doubt her decision to leave, because she knew that she would miss him extremely.

 _Pilot in Russia (Forever! Do remember!)  
We know her name (True warrior!)_

Manfred Nishizumi. Erika was always free-spirited, never wanting to settle down for longer than five minutes, but she had to admit that if there was ever a time she decided to get intimate with a boy, then the light brunette _Tiger_ ace would be the one she would choose. He would be her choice because of situations like this. He was always there for her, always stood in support of her, always believed in her. Even in her darkest hours, Manfred was always there for Erika.

It was ironic because Erika had only entertained the distant possibility that she would end up with Manfred before. But after this past year and especially now, she couldn't possibly see herself surviving without him. He was far too good for her, she believed. The idea of leaving behind the one person who was always there for her brought even more tears to her eyes.

 _Toll of the bell (Black devil!)  
Yet plans war from her prison (Fearless hero! No regrets!)_

But she hardened her resolve, reassuring herself that this needed to be done, even if it meant putting a rift between her and her lifelong bestie. She needed to leave Schwarzwaldspitze. But once more, Erika knew she would miss Manfred extremely. That was when a strange idea popped into her head. Normally, she would not do this, but considering this could very well be the last time they saw each other, Erika felt like she had to at least have _something_ to remember him by.

Without even questioning her instinct, she leaned up and gently kissed the _Tiger_ ace on the lips. Manfred's eyes flew open in surprise at the sudden soft sensation of Erika's lips on his, but the blonde's eyes were closed as she tried to savor the last thing she would have to remember him by.

 _Hiding in Russia (Oh, no! Oh, no!)  
She hides behind Rotlila-Ein (We know her name!)_

The kiss lasted for about five seconds give or take before Erika broke it. Manfred was stunned at what just happened, because he had been entranced by her for a very long time now. It was always something he had felt too embarrassed and shy about to bring up to Erika herself. Because he had gotten a kiss from the one girl he wanted to get one from, his brain just quit working for a bit afterwards. He would later wish that he had actually been aware of his surroundings then, because maybe then he could've stopped his crush from walking out of the room and changing _everything._

Erika made her way to the open door, but before reaching it, she took off her Schwarzwaldspitze aviator's jacket. It was an article of clothing that she liked to wear even outside of _Jagdgeschwader_ activities. But now, the jacket was something that just couldn't tag along with her because of what it symbolized. To her, it now symbolized the inability to meet expectations, the inability to be useful, the inability to achieve greatness.

The jacket just brought up too much pain for her to keep, which was a shame because she actually did like it. She ran her thumb across the German black, red, and gold tricolor shoulder patch in fondness for her homeland, having grown up in the land for all of her now-fifteen years of existence. She didn't really want to leave, but she felt it was necessary. So she let the jacket drop from the edge of her left hand's fingers down to the ground as she walked out the door, and as she walked out the door and left behind everything she ever knew, Erika never looked back. As far as anyone of Schwarzwaldspitze was concerned, Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann and her callsign _Rotlila-Ein_ did not exist anymore.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	116. Kapitel 24,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Vierundzwanzig: Kompanie der Helden**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Es kam aus der See**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was the black of night, and all that was visible in the sky was a vast array of stars shining brightly from several thousand light years away.

 _When I was young, I always felt a lot smaller whenever I looked up at the stars. There were just so many of them up there. But then I grew more curious the longer I thought about them. Why were there so many? Maybe there were so many of them perhaps for the reason of them being home to otherworldly beings. Was it possible that humanity might not be alone in the universe?_

The dead of night brought with it a calm and serene ocean. The waves stayed relaxed for a while, but at some point in the night, something began to ascend from the ocean, causing some larger waves to form from the disturbance caused by the object.

 _But, maybe, I was looking in the wrong direction the whole time._

Whatever the object was, it started to coast towards the coastline, to the city of Ooarai in particular. The object itself seemed sentient and distinctly fleshy with a massive number of tentacles.

On the shore within Ooarai, spotlights started sweeping the skies after a number of reports concerning a large disturbance started coming in.

 _One day, an extraterrestrial creature emerged from the bottom of the Pacific._

The unidentified creature continued to emerge from the waves as it got closer to the coast. The stomping of its tentacles was heavy enough to shake the ground, and it was extremely large, being about twice to thrice as large as a two-story house.

 _It came ashore without any prior warning, choosing to make landfall in Ooarai. But what is 'it' exactly? Well, 'it' is called…_

The spotlight system within the city soon shined its massive wattage onto the creature in question and revealed it for all to see. While it was gigantic, it was also extremely unique. It had a massive number of tentacles, practically making up the entirety of the creature's body. In the middle of the creature, the only part that _wasn't_ made up of tentacles, was a face of sorts. The nose was extremely large by proportion and very pear-shaped, while the eyes were quite small and rested on either side of the nose. No mouth was readily visible.

 _… the Arraipe._

The massive Arraipe began to maneuver through the streets of Ooarai, the stomps of its tentacles echoing loudly and shaking the ground. The residents of Ooarai were able to discover the creature via the city's spotlight system, and to say they were terrified was an understatement.

"It's the Arraipe!" one citizen bellowed out in utter terror. "The Arraipe has come ashore!"

It was mass panic for the Ooarai citizens to describe the scene succinctly. They were all screaming in terror and fleeing the area as quickly as their legs could carry them, in an effort to get clear of the Arraipe's path.

"Run for the hills!" another cried out at the same time as someone else bellowed, "Run for the _Zuikaku!_ "

The massive tentacled beast continued plundering through the city, shaking the ground left and right with nearly every movement it made. The latest of such damage came in the form of some of the Arraipe's tentacles pounding against the nearby marine tower.

"The marine tower's been hit!" one of the citizens observed while also running for their life. The tower itself had a massive gouge in it thanks to the impact, but it was still in one piece for all that it was worth.

"It's the wrath of the great Arraipe!" an old woman proclaimed. She looked like the opposing form of crazy that had taken over the city as she came down to her knees and pressed her hands together as if in prayer. Her face showed just how senile she was, looking like she had gone completely off the deep end. "At last, the rage that humanity deserves has finally arrived!"

"Grandmother, please calm down and let's get going!" a much younger man held himself back to stay with the old woman. He wasn't looking ready to get down and bow to the Arraipe, though. He looked more ready to pick up his grandma and run for dear life. "The _Zuikaku's_ heading out to the ocean, so let's get to the boats quickly and-!"

"It's all over!" the old woman cut off her grandson to continue her insane praise to hell's impending wrath. "This is the end of the world!"

"Don't worry, everything'll be just fine!" the young man insisted, having chosen to grasp his insane grandmother from under the shoulders and dragging her back. He didn't want to spend a second longer there, so he began to forcibly drag her away. "It'll be alright, because Ooarai has-!"

He was cut off by the sounds of large-displacement piston engines beginning to join the sounds of mass panic. The crowd all started to look to the source of the sounds, and many of them started to rejoice out of relief, because those sounds were also promises to keep them safe.

With the Arraipe, the massive creature was stunned momentarily after enduring a great number of spontaneous explosions, some focused machine gun fire, and a single instance of high-caliber gunfire, followed by the sound of a handful of aircraft roaring above one after the other. The Arraipe was unscathed, showing its massive resilience to harm. It even resisted the rocket attack that descended upon it; two streams of smoke, the telltale sign for a rocket attack, were present in the air after the large strike.

Swarming the skies were five fighter aircraft, each adorned with the distinctive Ooarai version of the _Balkenkreuz_ as their markings and with a unique identifying emblem on the tail, different for each one.

There was the F4F-3, notably altered with the use of a bomb rack under each wing for using two 100 lb bombs that had previously been dropped in the run.

There was the Ki-10-II, unchanged from its usual appearance due to the fact that it was basically useless in the ground attack game. At best, it was a mere annoyance to the Arraipe with its two peppering 7.7 mm machine guns.

There was the Fw 190 D-12, which had launched an impressive offensive load of one 500 kg bomb under the fuselage and two of the 210 mm _Werfer-Granate_ 21 rocket-propelled mortars, one under each wing. Any variant of the Fw 190 could easily lay waste to anything on the ground that found itself unfortunate enough to get caught in the German fighter's crosshairs, and that also included the _Dora_ model.

There was the Me 410 A-1/U4, a twin-engine heavy fighter that needed no extra help as to its ground attack abilities. Its massive 50 mm _Bordkanone_ 5 cannon, loaded with armor-piercing rounds containing explosive filler, was capable of easily laying waste to any ground target it could get a shot on, and add to that the cannon could do so twenty-two times before needing a new magazine of shells.

And lastly, there was the Bf 109 K-4, which was relatively conservative in its secondary armament with only a single 500 kg bomb having been dropped from its place under the fuselage. But such a meager load could still easily get the job done.

Or, at least, it _should_ have. Erich-Dietrich Hartmann, the 109's master, looked back and observed the aftermath of the attack run. He noted how the Arraipe wasn't noticeably affected by the heavy airstrike. At most, it appeared irritated by the ground-pounding.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Hey, that didn't do jack,_ " Miho Nishizumi heard Erich's voice relay over their radio connection. The telltale sound of his Bf 109's DB 605 engine could also be heard in the background.

"What? Seriously?!" the light brunette reacted with disbelief.

" _Nichts,_ " the blonde confirmed how nothing had changed. " _I think all we did was piss it off._ "

"Ugh…" Miho groaned and rubbed her forehead at the realization that the massive airstrike Ooarai's fighters had carried out had no visible effect on the Arraipe. She then smoothed her hand over the surface of her Ooarai _Panzerkraft_ jacket. "Alright, we'll deal with it for now. Go back and rearm. Maybe we need _all_ of us to take it down."

" _Jawohl,_ " Erich replied affirmative over the radio link. " _I can leave Hornisse-Vier at your disposal, but do use him sparingly. He's only got twenty-one shots to fire now._ "

" _Verstanden,_ " Miho responded, saying she understood.

" _Oh, and if you want something to use as bait or for harassment, then take Orkan-Drei as well,_ " Erich continued.

"Got it," the light brunette confirmed again, nodding her head absently as well. The line went dead after that as the two German captains continued on with their respective businesses.

The Panzer ace sat back in her seat and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Dealing with the Arraipe would have to be done with pure brute force, but the kicker was this: it would require so much brute force that she needed _everything_ they had, which would take time to amass. So she would have to play a stalling game with the beast.

After settling on her thoughts, the light brunette _Panzerkommandeur_ uttered a single command, "Hana. _Feuer._ "

The 7,5 cm KwK 40 L/48 cannon fired on-demand by the black-haired flower arranger's trigger finger. The shell struck the Arraipe, causing it to turn to the source of the blow against its flesh. There the beast found five of Ooarai's _Panzers_ lined up on a street facing it: the _Panzer_ IV H with its still-smoking barrel, the M3 _Lee,_ the _I-Go otsu,_ the StuG III F, and the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t).

"Nice shot, Hana!" Yukari gave a compliment to the _Kanonier's_ flawless gunnery as she loaded another _Panzergranate_ 39 into the breech.

Hana shrugged in her seat. "It's pretty hard to miss such a large target," she humbly denied the praise from the _Lader._ She grew a bit thoughtful next. "Though along those same lines, it might be a bad idea to get too close to it. The gun doesn't elevate nearly as high as the Flak guns can, which could spell trouble for us."

Miho nodded in agreement from her commander's post. "While that kind of gun elevation would be _very_ useful to us now, the vehicles the Flak guns are carried by are far too vulnerable," she rationalized her decision to not call upon their aid. It would've just endangered the Flak crews' lives needlessly. "Mako, try to maintain a distance with it."

"Roger," the sleepy _Fahrer's_ monotonous voice gave back an affirmative.

"Wait, wouldn't increasing distance reduce our effectiveness against it?" Saori questioned the logic behind the order, not understanding the idea.

Miho would've taken the time to explain her order, but the rumbling sounds characteristic of the Arraipe maneuvering began to surface once again as the large beast began to approach the five-strong _Panzerwaffe._ That forced the light brunette's mouth to stay shut.

"Hey, the Arraipe's coming this way!" Erwin reported the sight from within her _Sturmgeschütz_ III with an adrenaline-filled grin. "Looks like it wants a fight, _fräulein Kapitän!_ "

"Oh, shit, we're so fucked…" Saori began to tremble in fear in the radio operator's post within the _Panzer_ IV upon seeing the monster approach for herself.

"Saori, get me a line with _Hornisse-Vier,_ " Miho calmly ordered her _Funker._ She really didn't need the ginger freaking out at a time like this, hence her deliberate attempt to remain calm for her sake.

The attempt apparently worked as Saori fumbled with the _Panzer's_ radio for a bit, visibly focused once more. She turned back and nodded at Miho after the deed was done.

" _Hornisse-Vier,_ attack at your leisure, but I stress that you be efficient with your shots. We'll be playing a wild goose chase with the Arraipe to buy time until the rest of the _Jagdwaffe_ returns." Miho began to issue orders to her subordinates, starting with the Me 410. She knew it was unnecessary to speak with _Orkan-Drei,_ because she knew Erich would've already addressed that himself.

" _Jawohl, fräulein Kapitän,_ " Wolf returned an affirmative, the two DB 603A engines powering the German _Zerstörer_ coming over the connection loud and clear as well.

Miho looked to Saori and with no wasted words requested, "Get me back on the _Panzerwaffe_ channel."

Saori flicked the radio back to the previous channel, nodding again at Miho to signal it was done.

"After this, get all of us on the same frequency. I don't want to have to change channels constantly," Miho gave an order to Saori for later. The light brunette _Panzer_ commander calmly issued her next orders to the rest of her _Panzer_ crews. "Everyone, keep drawing it in our direction. We're all going to be acting as bait to lure the Arraipe over to the maneuver grounds on the outskirts of town. We're starved for time right now, so we need to buy some if we want to take it down. We need that time so the civilians can evacuate as well as for our air power to rearm and return, because we'll be striking together with them. While we're still in town, try to avoid causing collateral damage if possible. I know we only had just us five available to fight back, and even with the help of air power I'm not sure if we can do this, but we can sure as hell try our hardest!"

" _YEAH!_ " was the overwhelming response. Everyone's morale was high, and Miho knew from experience that an Ooarai team with high morale was capable of punching far above its weight.

"Begin _Unternehmen Wunderbar! PANZER VOR!_ " the light brunette finalized her commands.

With the end of Miho's string of commands, the five-strong Ooarai _Panzerwaffe_ bolted into action against the Arraipe, maneuvering to get into firing positions.

"What does ' _wandaba_ ' mean, anyone?" Yuuki wondered within the M3 Lee. She had tried to pronounce ' _Wunderbar,_ ' but it came out wrong due to her vast inexperience with the German language that Miho and Erich were naturally fluent in. That was a notion that also applied to the overwhelming majority of Ooarai's _Panzerwaffe:_ the team typically only understood ' _Panzer vor_ ' and not much else.

"No clue!" Aya shook her head with the energy that seemed exclusively reserved for the _Rabbit_ Team's members. "But it sounds cool!"

"Would you two stay focused?!" Azusa butted in with her commander's tone after hearing Aya and Yuuki lose focus. The sensibly-minded commander then felt eyes staring at her and turned to see Saki looking over towards her with her usual not-all-there expression.

But Azusa seemed to just know exactly what she was thinking despite not showing any emotions to it. "Don't worry, Saki!" she was quick to reassure. "I'm sure we'll get a chance!"

Saki just continued staring.

XXXXXXXXXX

Outside the M3 _Lee,_ the Arraipe was under attack by the Ooarai _Panzerwaffe_ after they had gotten an opportunity to attack unveiled to them.

"That thing's easier to hit than the broadside of a TOG II!" Erwin observed with overconfidence from within the StuG III. " _Kanonier, feuer frei!_ " She then gave the command to Saemonza, the gunner, to fire at will.

"Understood!" the Sengoku-era history buff gave back a confirmation before unleashing the fury of the _Sturmgeschütz's_ 7,5 cm StuK 40 L/43 cannon.

All of the other tanks were similarly engaging the giant Arraipe, as well as the two aviation assets available to them: the flying tank destroyer Me 410 A-1/U4 and the pecking pest of a plane with the Ki-10-II. The Japanese biplane entered a strafe and put out a brief burst of its two rifle-caliber machine guns into the Arraipe, not doing any damage whatsoever but succeeding in drawing the beast's ire and allowing the Me 410 to set itself up for a strafing run.

On the ground simultaneously, the _Panzer_ IV and StuG III fired off their KwK 40s again, not missing with their marks as the shells struck two of the tentacles of the Arraipe. Also engaging with its rather pitiful firepower was the _I-Go otsu,_ but its crew was still driving aggressively despite not being able to do jack in terms of damage output.

Swooping down from the heavens and lined up for an attack run, the telltale boom of a 50 mm cannon brought with it the Me 410's own strike. The 50 mm AP shell did not miss its mark, but because the BK 5 cannon fired incredibly slowly, Wolf, the _Hornisse's_ pilot, could only get a single accurate shot in before passing above the beast and ending his strafing run. That was the cue for Ron, the Ki-10's pilot, to head back into the fire to play the role of distraction with his worthless ground attack abilities.

Also engaging was the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) belonging to Ooarai's student council girls. However, judging by how its 75 mm shell impacted the ground shy of the Arraipe, it was easy to deduce who the gunner was this time around.

"Momo, how are you missing such a large target?" Yuzu asked from the driver's seat, a little disbelieving that the gunnery was _this_ bad.

"SHUT UP!" Momo barked from her place in the gunner's seat just behind the driver. "It's too damn big, that's why!"

"Momo, do you want to switch?" Anzu lazily offered the suggestion from the commander's seat, which was just behind the gunner's. The diminutive twin-tailed girl simultaneously rolled her eyes lazily, knowing that with Momo at the trigger, there'd be absolutely zero hits on target.

The Ki-10 finished up another pecking session of a strafing run and began to climb away from the Arraipe. Ron looked back to observe the beast's behavior. "Hmm, it's a slow fucker, it looks," he noted. "So as long as everyone keeps their distance, then it should be impossible to get taken out by it."

The badminton prodigy then took notice of how some of the tentacles atop the beast began to sway in a peculiar manner, almost as if they were tracking the movements of the tanks maneuvering down below. Those kinds of stalking movements just seemed to spell trouble for the _Panzerwaffe._

XXXXXXXXXX

" _INCOMING!_ " all of the Ooarai tanks heard the urgent alert from the Ki-10 pilot over the radio.

" _Hä?_ " Miho briefly uttered before the ground around her _Panzer_ IV shook as hard as a sudden earthquake.

" _AH!_ " was the collective response from all of the other tank crews as the Arraipe's tentacles quickly stretched and slammed into the ground super close to them. There was practically no warning to the counterattack, but luckily for the Ooarai tanks, the tentacles missed hitting them directly. It was still a hellish experience, though, as the ground trembled under the attacks.

"That was close!" Karina remarked in astonishment, not for a moment believing she had just managed to steer the M3 _Lee_ away from the incoming tentacle strike.

"It can stretch those tentacles?" Yuuki guessed. It was obvious from her face that she didn't want her guess to be spot-on.

"If that thing can do that…!" Ayumi started with a panicked voice.

Miho quickly recovered and spoke up to her crew, "Is everyone okay?"

"Nothing to worry about," Mako responded first with her monotonic voice. She was completely unfazed by the attack. "Those things travel slower than tank shells do."

"Not helping, Mako…" Saori moaned at her best friend uncomfortably.

" _Hey, what the fuck are you doing, Duck Team?!_ " Ron, the Ki-10 pilot, came over the radio waves again. That's when Miho looked up through the vision slits in her cupola and saw the _I-Go otsu_ commandeered by the volleyball players charging to the Arraipe.

"Do us a favor and give us some cover, will you?!" Noriko barked back over the channel to Ron. She made no effort to stop the Japanese tank she commanded as she deliberately played with fire once again.

" _Well at least you haven't gone_ _ **completely**_ _off the deep end considering you bothered to ask for cover!_ " the badminton captain retorted as he began another strafing run on the beast. It was otherwise pointless if it wasn't for the reason that he was meant to be a distraction.

With the volleyball girls, they continued to push their tank onwards to the Arraipe. "Watch out and avoid the tentacles, Shinobu!" Noriko warned as the tank closed. "Remember, it's all about guts!"

"Roger, captain!" Shinobu responded affirmative from the driver's seat.

It didn't take long for the Arraipe to stretch one of its tentacles in the direction of the _I-Go._ The tentacle ended up striking solid ground, though, as the Japanese tank juked out of the limb's path.

"Now! Do it!" Noriko barked, seeing the opportunity granted by the beast's tentacle briefly stuck in the ground.

The _I-Go_ climbed upon the tentacle and began to charge toward the Arraipe using its own limb as a pathway. One 57 mm shell released itself from the cannon breech toward the beast.

"This box of metal can't do any damage if we don't attack from point-blank!" Noriko berated Akebi for firing at that distance as the tank drove in closer. "Closer!"

"Even then, it's still doubtful we could do any damage anyway!" Taeko provided the more reasonable outlook on their situation.

It was a nice thought, but the notion that the _I-Go_ could do any damage was crushed when the tentacle it was driving on freed itself from the ground and began to wrap itself around the tank, trapping it.

A few seconds of silence ensued within the Japanese tank. Then, all hell broke loose as the volleyball players all desperately latched onto each other when they felt the tank begin to shift courtesy of the tentacle moving. " _HELP UUUUUS!_ " they all screamed in utter terror.

"Get _Duck_ Team free!" Miho ordered her tanks as she watched from below.

" _With pleasure!_ " Saemonza was heard from the StuG III's radio. " _Load APCR!_ "

"Yukari, tungsten!" Hana requested as she aimed the _Panzer_ IV's KwK 40 onto the tentacle holding the _I-Go otsu._

Yukari knew what the flower-arranging gunner was asking for, so she got out a _Panzergranate_ 40, an APCR shell, and loaded it into the breech. "Loaded!" came the verbal cue.

The trigger was pulled not half a second later and the shell zoomed with a decisive boom into the direction of the tentacle holding _Duck_ Team, just barely after the StuG III fired its own shell.

Both shells hit their mark, and because the shells were APCR shells – shells using an extremely hard tungsten core, which, provided the material was thin enough, could cleanly cut through anything like a hot knife through butter – the tentacle ended up being cleanly cut through, leaving the limb to fall off.

"Wow!" Azusa observed the engagement from the M3 _Lee,_ being sure to lock away everything in her mind for future reference and for learning's sake. "They can actually hit those tentacles!"

"But _Duck_ Team is falling!" Aya pointed out with horror-filled eyes to the Japanese tank falling down to earth from above.

"Yuzu, do it!" Anzu quickly ordered her _Hetzer's_ driver upon spotting the _I-Go_ unravel from the sheared-off tentacle and begin to fall.

"Right!" Yuzu responded as she skillfully maneuvered the small German tank destroyer.

The _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) quickly maneuvered to rest below the _I-Go's_ descending trajectory. When the Japanese tank finally hit something below it, it was not the ground it impacted, but the _Hetzer._ The small German tank destroyer effectively acted as a cushion to allow the _I-Go's_ crew to land a little more gently on the ground.

Of course, the impact wasn't pretty as Miho observed, wincing when she heard the sharp and heavy impact of metal on metal. " _Duck, Turtle,_ are you all right?!" she quickly concerned herself with the crews of the two involved tanks.

In response, both mentioned tanks popped their white flags. It was obvious by that point that neither of them would get back into the fight. The force of the impacts each of them experienced were enough to crush both tanks' suspensions.

" _Well, looks like that did us no good, Miho,_ " Anzu responded to Miho's call using the _Hetzer's_ radio.

" _Our bad, captain!_ " the volleyball girls were heard collectively responding over the radio.

" _And sorry for taking you out, too, Turtle Team!_ " Akebi added in separately.

"Two _Panzers_ gone in one go…" Miho filed away in her head. She then took note of the Arraipe itself, particularly in how the limb that was sheared off by the tungsten-cored APCR shells had already regrown itself. "And it's regenerating…" She then spoke up to make sure everyone left heard her. "We need to make sure we keep our guard up!"

" _Captain!_ " the light brunette heard Sodoko's voice over the radio next, courtesy of Saori patching her through. " _We finished up with evacuating the refugees to the Zuikaku! What do we do now?_ "

Miho responded immediately, "Get the crews of the destroyed tanks and take them back to the ship!"

" _Understood, captain!_ " the leader for the Public Morals Committee confirmed.

After Saori changed back to the main channel, Miho issued some more commands to the _Panzerwaffe,_ " _Turtle, Duck,_ get out of here and link up with the Public Morals Committee! Everyone else, follow me! We're on the move now!"

" _Understood!_ " all her subordinates responded unanimously. Following that, the tanks that were still mobile – the _Panzer_ IV H, the StuG III F, and the M3 _Lee_ – mobilized again, with the Arraipe pursuing in all its gigantic lumbering.

Miho then recalled something that would fit at this moment in time, and got back on the radio, "Hey, _Bubi,_ can you put on some _Musik?_ "

" _Oh, so_ _ **now**_ _you ask me for my Musik, now do you?_ " she heard Erich's voice return with mock-anger. She could hear the amusement in his voice as well.

The light brunette also smiled in amusement at the notion that she _finally_ sought Erich for his unique taste in music before continuing, "Yes, I am. It would fit the mood very well."

She heard the 109 pilot let out a long sigh of mock-annoyance before hearing him say, " _Alright, I've got just the one._ "

Soon enough, while the three-strong _Panzerwaffe_ made its way down the street with the Arraipe pursuing, Miho heard the telltale electric guitar slowly build up its high-pitched strumming over the radio.

" _Resist, and Biiiiite!_ " Erich dramatically introduced over the radio before letting the song itself take over, the guitars playing with a steady drumbeat accompanying them.

" _WHOO!_ " Miho heard the StuG III crew whoop in celebration. The history buffs were clearly delighted to hear one of Sabaton's tracks, as the band was known for making heavy metal music about history.

" _War is coming swiftly  
The border is closing in  
We're a company of soldiers  
Mere forty rifles strong_

 _All alooooone!_

 _Stand alooooone!_ "

"Incoming!" Miho alerted Mako as the Arraipe's tentacles lurched forth toward the _Panzer_ IV. The _Panzerfahrer_ nodded absently and modulated the track brake levers to juke out of the path of the incoming strikes. The light brunette _Panzerkommandeur_ looked back and found just the sight she wanted: the StuG III and M3 _Lee_ were following them still despite the attack. "That was close."

" _Ardenner ground is burning  
And Rommel is at hand  
As the Blitzkrieg's pushing harder  
The war is all around_

 _All arooooound!_

 _Hold your grooooound!_ "

All remaining tanks continued rolling down the city streets at their modest speeds to lead on the Arraipe, who gracelessly pursued after them with all the floundering of a beast. During that time, the StuG III managed to pass the _Panzer_ IV to take the lead for the time being.

" _Fight all eighteen days of battles!  
No odds are on our side  
Few will fight for all until the bullets are gone_"

"Shrines!" Miho broadcast to the StuG III crew their intended path to the maneuver grounds, which were to go through the shrines in the city. She had to quickly articulate her message and at just the right point to ensure the message was heard thanks to Swedish power metal still playing over the radio. She succeeded by doing so at the extremely brief reprieve between lines.

" _We!  
We will resist and bite!  
Bite hard!  
'Cause we are all in sight!_

 _We!  
We take up arms and fight!  
Fight hard!  
Resist and do what's right!_"

 _Hippo_ Team took a detour along some side streets when the Arraipe stretched its tentacles for another attack, and _Anglerfish_ and _Rabbit_ Teams followed behind them. The Arraipe continued to follow after them in its single-minded state, trotting through the city and leaving a swath of destruction in its attempt to maintain contact with the tanks that had once again evaded its attacks.

The flying pest otherwise known as the Ki-10 banked and maneuvered to set itself up for another strafing run. A short burst of hilariously ineffective 7.7 mm rounds connected with the massive Arraipe, but as always, they served merely to tick off the beast.

" _No matter our fighting  
The numbers will still count  
We're outgunned and few in numbers  
We're doomed to flag or fail_

 _We fought haaaaard!_

 _Held our guaaaaard!_ "

That was apparently the last straw for the Arraipe as far as the Japanese sesquiplane was concerned, because just as the Ki-10 came close enough after its strafing run, the beast swatted a tentacle at it. The limb just barely caught the Japanese plane, but it was able to tear off what it did catch: the right wings were utterly mangled from the swat and made the plane unflyable from then on.

" _Mayday!_ " Ron, the pilot, yelled over the channel. He had just enough control remaining to keep the Japanese sesquiplane from going into a nosedive and used that given mercy to bail out at a higher altitude where he could survive the parachute down.

" _But when captured by the Axis!  
And forced to tell the truth  
We will tell them with a smile!  
We will surprise them with the laugh!_

 _We are aaaaall!_

 _We were aaaaall!_ "

Miho winced upon hearing the sudden mayday call. This was easily the riskiest encounter she, and everyone else in Ooarai, had ever been a part of, considering they could very well die in the defense of Ooarai from the Arraipe. The thought that they were so vulnerable and at risk of death sickened the light brunette, but she did her best to not let that show and continued to command the three tanks she had left.

" _We were told to hold the border!  
And that is what we did!  
Honored were our orders in despite of our foe_"

Miho looked back to check if the Arraipe was still in hot pursuit. She wasn't disappointed, as the tentacled beast was still after the group of tanks in its utterly graceless manner.

" _We!  
We will resist and bite!  
Bite hard!  
'Cause we are all in sight!_

 _We!  
We take up arms and fight!  
Fight hard!  
Resist and do what's right!_"

Soon enough, the threesome of tanks turned off of the side streets and onto a wider four-lane road running along the seaside. Chugging along behind them and pillaging through the buildings was the Arraipe, still going strong in its pursuit after the Ooarai tanks.

" _Gloria fortis miles  
The Wehrmacht closing in  
Adversor et admorsus  
The boar against the eagle!_"

Wolf, up in the air flying the Me 410 A-1/U4, observed the situation from above, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike with that massive 50 mm cannon extending out from the _Zerstörer's_ small under-nose bomb bay.

" _Gloria fortis miles  
The Wehrmacht closing in  
Adversor et admorsus  
The boar against the eagle!_"

The German history buff of a pilot got his chance when he saw the Arraipe begin to focus more on the _Panzers._ With that, he banked into a turn and lined up for a strafe. He waited until the distance was closed enough to ensure he wouldn't waste the shot.

Miho could easily distinguish the boom of the Me 410 A-1/U4's big 50 mm BK 5 cannon as it opened fire a single time, even over the rest of the crumbling and crunching courtesy of the Arraipe crushing the ground it walked upon. She could still make out the distinctive cannon fire even when the guitar solo began for the theme music playing over the radio still.

The Me 410's 50 mm shell struck the Arraipe before the plane itself broke away and began putting distance between it and the giant tentacled beast. The Arraipe definitely felt that shot, judging by how it tried to swing a tentacle out at the German _Zerstörer._ It was a vain effort, though, due to the high speed at which Wolf maintained all throughout his attack, which allowed him a margin of safety from any tentacle attacks.

But that aerial attack was able to distract the Arraipe from its three armored targets, which was taken advantage of by _Hippo_ Team at the next intersection. The StuG III got to the intersection first and quickly spun the assault gun around in a one-eighty, while the _Panzer_ IV and M3 _Lee_ took a right at the intersection, which led to the shrines.

The StuG III quickly aimed at the beast and unleashed a single shot. The crew didn't bother to observe the shot's effect, turning back around immediately and flooring it to catch back up to the two other tanks.

It was a wise decision, as the shell had struck the Arraipe. Because of that, the beast got ticked off even more and unleashed two of its tentacles to strike down the StuG III. Thanks to the _Sturmgeschütz_ immediately vacating the area, the attacks were too little too late and missed their targets, slamming into the ground instead.

As the StuG III fell back in line with the remaining tanks, both the M3 _Lee_ and _Panzer_ IV took aim at the Arraipe while still on the move, aiming directly to their rear. The German tank acquired target first and opened fire with its 75 mm cannon, which resulted in a direct hit to another of the Arraipe's tentacles thanks to Hana's impeccable gunnery. The American medium tank fired its 37 mm gun later, but its shot went wide, courtesy of Aya having nowhere near the aim of the _Panzer_ IV gunner.

" _We!  
We will resist and bite!  
Bite hard!  
'Cause we are all in sight!_

 _We!  
We take up arms and fight!  
Fight hard!  
Resist and do what's right!_"

Continuing on the path to the maneuver grounds outside of the city, the _Panzers_ continued to lead on the very much annoyed Arraipe. Wolf found himself with yet another opportunity, and he seized it as he banked the twin-engine Me 410 and lined himself up for another shot.

Another boom through the skies alerted the Ooarai _Panzerwaffe_ that the Me 410 had struck again with its massive 50 mm cannon. The shot was certainly not wasted, having struck the massive tentacled beast and diverting its attention to the _Zerstörer_ yet again. The Arraipe quickly extended a tentacle to try and reach out for the Me 410, but the speed carried by the German bomber destroyer as it broke off its run made it impossible to ensnare.

Finally, the Ooarai _Panzerwaffe_ arrived at the maneuver grounds just as their background music came to its end over the radio. The three remaining tanks formed up line-abreast with each other as they continued to drive along. The hatches began to pop on each of them as each of the crew members sought fresh air.

"Here it is, the arena for the decisive engagement!" Caesar notified for the entire group from the StuG III.

"Yes," Miho nodded in agreement from the _Panzer_ IV. "Here we can engage it without having to worry about collateral damage. We can use the open area to our advantage and stay out of its reach. Don't forget that we're still waiting on-"

" _You won't be waiting on us anymore,_ " Erich interrupted over the line and contradicted what Miho was about to say. " _We're all airborne now and heading for your location. T-minus five minutes._ "

The light brunette blinked for a second before recovering just as quickly. "Okay, disregard the waiting," she amended her previous words. "We just need to-"

Miho stopped again, but not because of an interruption. This time, she had been absently observing her surroundings when she noticed the Arraipe was nowhere to be seen.

"Miho?" Saori wondered about the light brunette's sudden silence. She was sticking her head up out of the tank through her hatch.

"The Arraipe's not here!" Miho quickly recovered her composure. "But why?"

"But I could've sworn it was following us the whole time…" Yukari said as she looked to the path the tanks had taken in an attempt to spot the Arraipe. It was to no success, though, as there was nothing but open land behind them.

" _INCOMING!_ " Wolf's voice hollered over the radio in alarm.

About a second later, everyone left on the _Panzerwaffe_ understood the cause for alarm as the Arraipe slammed into the ground from above, making the ground shake like an earthquake again.

" _AH!_ " was the collective cry of shock from the Ooarai _Panzerwaffe._

Just after landing, the Arraipe immediately swept one of its tentacles in an arc in front of it, in an attempt to strike down any of the tanks. The beast did end up swatting one of the tanks – the StuG III – across the land like it was a mere pest. The _Sturmgeschütz's_ crew had no time to react, meaning they went for a ride through the air until the assault gun came crashing down to earth into a small pond in the area.

"It came flying!" a few of the freshmen of _Rabbit_ Team freaked out at the display.

"Karina, get out of its range!" Azusa recovered quickest, her more sensible nature clearly of benefit in this moment. "Drive!"

The shell-shocked Karina instinctively drove the M3 _Lee_ to outside of the Arraipe's reach, following the _Panzer_ IV that did the same.

" _Hippo_ Team!" Miho cried out upon seeing the StuG III descend below the water of the pond it crash-landed in. She let out a terror-filled shriek when she saw the Arraipe swing another tentacle in her direction, and immediately ducked back into the _Panzer_ IV to avoid getting decapitated.

In the pond itself, the entirety of _Hippo_ Team soon broke the surface of the water, taking in deep breaths of blessed oxygen to refill their starved lungs.

"That Arraipe's got quite the surprise attack!" Erwin remarked during her attempts to regain air for her lungs.

"I don't think I can be surprised anymore than that," Caesar gave her thoughts on the attack that took them out.

There was a cloud of dust that had begun to build up courtesy of the Arraipe's landing, spreading out from the massive beast and partially obscuring its lower sections from vision. But that partial obscuring did not deter a certain _Zerstörer_ from another strafing run.

"Coming for another run," Wolf notified over the channel as he lined up the Me 410 for another chance at a strafing run. The German history buff of a pilot lined up the crosshairs of the telescopic sight – also part of the /U4 _Umrüst-Bausatz_ to enable shooting the 50 mm cannon from a long distance – onto the Arraipe, but he squinted a bit in curiosity when he saw the Arraipe's face give off a glare of light. He widened his eyes when he discovered why a glare would be present, and immediately pulled back on the stick to abort the attack.

The evasive maneuver was done just a bit too late to escape an incoming burst of extremely high-pressure water spat out by the Arraipe. The stream of water cut through the Me 410's left wing, outboard of the engine, like it was butter and cutting off the outer portion of the _Zerstörer's_ wing.

The twin-engine bomber destroyer lost almost complete control over its maneuvers. Only just enough control remained to keep the plane pointed nose-up for the time being, but Wolf knew that wouldn't last very long.

" _Steig aus!_ " Miho heard the German pilot yell to bail out over the radio. She could also see through her cupola's vision slits two figures jump out of the twin-engine bomber destroyer, which spiraled completely out of control now that it no longer had a pilot. Wolf and Leonidas, the operator for the Me 410's two rear defensive guns, descended via parachute down into the ocean.

The light brunette herself looked not at all like herself after that extremely trying experience. Though she tried her hardest to stay strong for the sake of her crew, she still looked noticeably terrified of the situation at hand, having seen the StuG III get swatted aside effortlessly and the Me 410 get abruptly shot down. It was now sinking in within her mind that this was not simply another _Panzerkraft_ match. This was real, and it could very well end in lives lost.

That was something Miho never liked to think about, the possibility of lives being lost. It was why she tried to stay away from _Panzerkraft_ for some time, because she just couldn't continue on knowing that lives could be at risk anytime she took to the battlefield. She had a very prominent aversion to death, even compared to most other people, not being able to stomach the idea one bit.

The stomps of the Arraipe's tentacles snapped Miho out of her stupor, and she observed the massive merciless beast begin to stalk its way over to the _Panzer_ IV and M3 _Lee._ The picture was much like a beast stalking its prey as the Arraipe slowly, intimidatingly, stalked over. There was no longer any dust visually obstructing it, but the force of the stomps still generated some dust with each heavy step.

"S-Say, is this a really bad situation for us now?" Saori spoke up with a shaking voice, betraying exactly the fear she had. "Considering we only have two tanks left and lost our only remaining air asset?"

Closer and closer the Arraipe continued to come with each successive stomp. Miho didn't want anyone to pay a visit to Queen Hel, so she did the only thing she could: silently pray that someone, _anyone,_ would come to their rescue.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Oh, Erich, please hurry…_ " Erich heard Miho quietly whisper over the radio. That single message shook the blonde into alertness, because he knew that the light brunette would only become so quiet in the heat of battle if she encountered her greatest fear: a great possibility of death.

It did him no good that it would take at least another minute to reach her general location. Though what remained of the _Jagdwaffe_ was fully rearmed with their choice loads – that being two 100 lb bombs for the F4F, a 500 kg bomb and two _Werfer-Granate_ 21 rocket-propelled mortars for the Fw 190D, and a single 500 kg bomb for the Bf 109 – they couldn't unleash that massive firepower yet. It frustrated Erich to no end that he could do nothing when he heard the one person he cared more about than anyone else practically praying for him to help.

" _Look alive, Hartmann!_ " the blonde heard a distinctly Japanese voice begin over his radio. That was odd to Erich, because as far as he knew, there wasn't a single Japanese member on the Ooarai _Jagdstaffel._ But at the same time, it was vaguely familiar to the blonde. " _On your six from above!_ "

Erich looked back – well, he looked back as best he could, because the Bf 109 never had very good rear visibility – and tried to spot if anything was behind and above him. He could make out a single moving dot, so he brought up his sniper scope to his eye to try and discern the identity of the dot. The use of the magnified sight quickly blew up the size of the dot, and not just because of the zoom level, Erich noted. It was also because the dot was traveling at an extremely high speed, far faster than any World War Two-era fighter.

The blond-haired ultra-ace raised his eyebrows in surprise when he discovered the identity of the unknown aircraft. It was a very specific modern-day Japanese fighter built off an American design. "No way…" Erich muttered in astonishment when he connected the dots as to who that was in the fighter.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the M3 _Lee,_ Azusa caught sight of Saki staring at her again. The tank commander knew exactly what the mostly-mute tank loader was trying to communicate, and she nodded. "Karina," Azusa began. "Advance."

On the sensible freshman's command, the M3 _Lee_ mobilized and started to head for the Arraipe itself.

Miho noticed the American tank begin to advance. " _Rabbit_ Team?!" she spluttered in surprise.

Along with her, the other members of _Anglerfish_ Team had also noticed _Rabbit_ Team begin to proceed toward the Arraipe.

"What are you doing, _Rabbit_ Team?!" Saori practically screamed over the radio, deeply concerned for the freshmen's well-being. "Get back over here! You'll get torn apart out there!"

"Mako, follow them!" Miho immediately ordered.

"But we'll be in the danger zone, too, Lady Nishizumi!" Yukari objected to the idea of putting themselves at risk as well.

" _Captain Nishizumi, we're sorry!_ " Azusa apologized over the radio, but she did not bother to order the tank to stop. " _We've been hiding something, something super important! The Arraipe-!_ "

The sensibly-minded freshman was cut off when an object shaped much like a projectile rocketed through the air at an extremely high speed, faster than sound judging by the cracking boom shortly following. The jet-boosted projectile blasted into the Arraipe and knocked it off its tentacles, throwing it back several hundred feet from the force of the initial impact as well as from the explosion that followed upon impact.

Shortly after that missile strike followed the distinct roaring whoosh of air that was characteristic of high-speed passes by jets as a jet fighter flew by overhead. The jaws of _Rabbit_ Team and _Anglerfish_ Team dropped in disbelief, but Miho grew even more stunned when she identified the jet in question: a Mitsubishi F-2A, heavily laden with external armament consisting mainly of guided bombs, but also an anti-ship missile. From the presence of an empty rack on the other side, the light brunette could assume that the anti-ship missile that such a rack was built for had been the projectile that threw around the Arraipe like a ragdoll.

" _Hauptmann_ Honda?" Miho spoke into the radio out of curiosity to see if her hunch was right about the identity of the pilot in the Mitsubishi F-2, fitted with the hinomaru markings characteristic of Japanese aircraft.

" _You're covered, you show-off,_ " Captain Muto Honda of the JASDF notified over the radio, seemingly unrecognizing of Miho's transmission. His Mitsubishi F-2 was beginning a long turn to double back. " _Now get in there and get crackin'!_ "

The light brunette _Panzer_ IV commander was about to speak up again, thinking she wasn't speaking loudly enough. She could tell it was the Japanese Captain on the other end, but she really wanted to alert him to the Arraipe's offensive abilities.

Miho never got the chance to ask again thanks to the distinct sound of a few 120 mm smoothbore cannons going off, and not even an eye-blink later was the Arraipe struck again with considerable force, enough to make it stumble. The cannon fire drew the attention of the remainder of Ooarai's _Panzers,_ and Miho started growing a relieved smile when she recognized the modern-day tanks that were the source of the fire.

"IT'S THE TYPE 10!" Yukari loudly fangirled over the appearance of Japan's most modern main battle tank, three of them at that. One was perched at the crest of a hill behind the Ooarai _Panzers_ while the other two had begun to descend down said hill, cannons aimed at the tentacled beast.

" _Hauptmann_ Chouno!" Miho said, greatly relieved that her remaining tanks had effectively been rescued by a trio of the JGSDF's most advanced tank yet.

" _Good job, very nice, you girls!_ " Captain Ami Chouno applauded the Ooarai tankers' efforts over a radio channel. The Japanese tanker herself was in full combat gear this time around, aboard the Type 10 sitting on the hillcrest. " _You all held yourselves well so far, so take a breather! Fighting kaijus is the JSDF's job! PANZER VOR!_ " She ended with a final command for her own Type 10 to advance, and the Japanese tank began to descend down the hill as well to engage the monster.

"For your information, it can stretch its tentacles to attack and can spit very high-pressure water!" Miho quickly briefed Ami on the Arraipe's offensive abilities. At the same time, the Japanese tanker's Type 10 flew past the _Panzer_ IV with all the speed of a modern-day main battle tank, which was quite fast. "Both have a great reach, so be careful!"

" _Roger, thanks!_ " Ami acknowledged the info as she continued to approach the Arraipe with the other two Type 10s.

The tentacled monster faced the threesome of Japanese Type 10s that were closing rapidly. The beast began to charge up a stream of extremely high-pressure water to attack the Japanese tanks, but it was interrupted when Captain Honda in his Mitsubishi F-2 released a JDAM-equipped bomb of 1,000 kg in weight. The Japanese fighter then broke off from its heading to put some more distance between it and the monster.

In the meantime, the fire-and-forget JDAM directly impacted the rear of the Arraipe thanks to its highly-accurate GPS guidance system, making the beast stumble forward and nearly falling over from the force of the impact and explosion. The impact also made the monster's water attack lose all pressure and simply fall out of its mouth like a small waterfall.

The three Type 10s took advantage of the distraction provided by the Japanese fighter and drove around the right of the Arraipe. Their cannons aimed at the monster, and all three fired in quick succession while still on the move. Despite that, the sabot shells landed right on target thanks to the tanks' modern-day fire control systems working flawlessly.

The Arraipe stumbled a bit more from the attacks. Dust was building up again on the ground, thanks to the tentacled monster, the Japanese main battle tanks, and the aftermath of the Japanese fighter's airstrike. But the beast was not down and out. No, far from it as a matter of fact.

The Arraipe pulled another trick out of its figurative sleeve when it revealed itself to have a tail of sorts. The tail itself was similar to a pitchfork in appearances with the forked pikes, but the beast's tail had six of those pikes at the end of its tail compared to three for the common pitchfork. The monster swung its tail out toward the Japanese Type 10s to cut them down.

" _SHIT!_ " Ami cursed in surprise over the radio when she saw that six-pike tail swing in the direction of her tanks. To her luck, though, the tail strike missed, though only barely. " _Retreat!_ "

With that order, all three Type 10s started to book it out of the area.

Simultaneously, Captain Honda had launched the other anti-ship missile his Mitsubishi F-2 had been armed with, the brand-new ASM-3, derived from the pre-production XASM-3 anti-ship missile. It featured an integral ramjet as its power source, which gave it the ability to exceed Mach 3, along with a guidance system that combined mid-course correction with terminal guidance to give the missile the ability to detect its target from long range while also providing the extreme accuracy that a terminal guidance system can achieve.

The freshly-deployed ASM-3 impacted with the tail of the Arraipe at extremely high speed, blowing it to pieces and flinging the beast itself quite a ways, away from the Type 10s. The monster was not happy about that at all, having to let what remained of its abused tail shrivel back into its place of origin. In retaliation, the Arraipe extended a great number of its tentacles to rain down onto the Japanese tanks.

" _Keep your speed up! Evasive!_ " Ami ordered her small group of tanks when she saw the tentacles coming straight for them.

True to the order, each of them steered left and right unpredictably in an effort to shake off the Arraipe's tentacle strikes. It worked, as the tentacles smashed seemingly everything _but_ the Type 10s. After evading the tentacles, the three Type 10s turned left, still maintaining their high speed, and aimed at the monster again. They all opened fire in quick succession while still on the move, and the shells all impacted to force the beast back.

A few seconds later, another JDAM dropped by the Mitsubishi F-2 struck the Arraipe, making the beast stumble again to avoid losing its footing.

From the top of the hills that looked over the battlefield, the M3 _Lee_ and _Panzer_ IV crews watched the JSDF continue to harass the big monster. Up above, the Ooarai _Jagdwaffe_ were similar, though they were effectively circling the battlefield instead. There was, very obviously, no need for the Ooarai folks to join in, because as Ami said, fighting kaijus was the JSDF's job, and they were proving damn good at it.

"As expected of all the new and powerful weapons they have at their hands…" Yukari annotated while watching the fight as she leaned out from the loader's hatch of the _Panzer_ IV. "It's much like shooting fish in a barrel, considering the Arraipe can't raise a single limb against them… Seems like the intelligence of humankind has given us the ability to defeat the unknown even before coming to understand the unknown…"

Miho paid no attention to the tank guru's annotations, choosing instead to watch the fight. She had that look in her eyes that said she would intervene if things started going to shit, no matter what anyone told her.

" _… What the devil are you talking about, Yukari?_ " Erich asked over the radio. He didn't understand at all why Yukari was saying what she was saying. To his ears, it sounded as if the tank guru was off in her own little world.

The situation with the Arraipe was much unchanged: the beast was still getting attacked without being able to launch an attack itself. The Type 10s were simply too quick to strike, let alone the untouchable Mitsubishi F-2. If anything, the modern-day Japanese fighter was what did by far the most damage to the Arraipe, enough so that the beast actually seemed to shy away in fear whenever an airstrike came in.

"Saki!" Miho heard some of the freshmen cry out. "Saki, get back here!"

The light brunette looked over her shoulder, and spotted Saki outside of the M3 _Lee,_ running in the direction of the Arraipe. Yukari saw the scene as well, as did the rest of the _Anglerfish_ crew.

"What the-!" Mako widened her eyes, caught greatly off-guard by the sight of the nearly-mute freshman girl descending down the hill. The tank driver immediately shut up and dumped the clutch at full-throttle, making the _Panzer_ IV take off after Saki.

"What?! What happened?!" Saori repeatedly asked in her own kind of shock. "Saki is-but why?!"

" _It's about what we wanted to say to you earlier, but Saki…_ " Yuuki tried to explain over the radio in the M3 _Lee,_ which had also taken off after Saki.

It seemed to make no difference, as the Arraipe had caught wind of Saki approaching it, and immediately jumped over to her place, generating a large cloud of dust upon its heavy landing.

Saki lifted up an arm to shield her eyes from the dust, but she removed it a few seconds later to look the Arraipe in the eye. "Arraipe…" she began to address the beast.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Wait, you're saying _what?!_ " Ami roared incredulously when she got wind of what Saki was doing via a radio message. The Japanese tanker quickly barked out an order over the channel. "Break off! Break off!"

Her order to break off was directed at Muto up in the air, but the order came in just too late, as the Japanese fighter pilot had already dropped a JDAM intended for the Arraipe. The beast lifted a tentacle and, in desperation, Saki lifted her hand to cover her mouth and nose along with closing her eyes upon discovering the bomb heading for them both.

But the bomb impacted regardless and exploded in all its glory, generating a massive cloud of dust and shrapnel. The cloud itself was massive, easily obscuring the gigantic Arraipe from view.

Soon after the blast's sound dissipated, Ami popped open her Type 10's hatch. "Mother of God…" she absently said, not expecting the coming picture to be anything resembling pretty.

But she was given yet another surprise when the cloud of dust dissipated. Enveloped protectively by one of the Arraipe's tentacles and completely unharmed besides some coughing was Saki.

When she finally opened her eyes, Saki found the Arraipe staring down at her as the beast withdrew its protective tentacle back. It didn't appear to hold any sign of aggression toward the seldom-speaking freshman.

"… Thank you, Arraipe…" Saki spoke up to the monster. She then reached into the top of her shirt, where a bit of a squirming motion was noticeable. "Also…"

Out of her shirt, she pulled out a much, much smaller Arraipe, about the size of her own head. Saki noted how the Arraipe extended a lone tentacle, but the mostly silent girl had a smile pulling at her lips. The reason being was because she knew the Arraipe wasn't extending its tentacle as a form of attack. Instead, it was simply reaching out to the smaller Arraipe, which was also extending its much smaller tentacle in much the same way.

"… I believe this belongs to you," Saki notified the gigantic Arraipe, extending her own arms towards the monstrous creature to return the smaller Arraipe to it.

The large Arraipe accepted the smaller one as the two creatures connected tentacles with each other.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little later when the sun began to rise and begin a new day, the rising sun outlined the figure of the giant Arraipe swimming out into the Pacific ocean.

On the beach of Ooarai, the students of Ooarai that had actually taken part in the fight were watching the much more peaceful Arraipe swim into the rising sun. Also there were the JSDF members that took part in the fight. The remaining vehicles used by the students and the officers that weren't utterly destroyed were parked behind them, including the three-strong Ooarai _Jagdwaffe_ and the Mitsubishi F-2.

"So, do we just declare this case as closed?" Muto wondered, holding his removed helmet with one hand. He still had on the g-suit, though. Closest to him among the ad-hoc group were Ami, Miho, and Erich.

"I guess so…" Miho responded as she looked out at the sea with a smile.

"Well, the report on this I think will be quite entertaining to the higher-ups to say the least," Ami remarked with a hand on her hip.

"I want to see the gun cam footage of the fight," Erich contributed to the conversation along the same lines. He had his signature calm grin in place. "Hell, I could probably find someone to make all that footage into a movie."

"You mean to tell me that this attack was done for the sole purpose of that thing looking for its young?" Caesar questioned with plenty of disbelief. The history buffs were all drenched in water still, Wolf and Leonidas being drenched from landing in the ocean after bailing out of their Me 410. All of them were dressed in gym clothes seeing as there were no other dry clothes on hand.

"Apparently…" Wolf shrugged. He still had his _Schirmmütze_ on his head, dripping water as it was.

"So false alarm, then!" Erwin reached a conclusion for the baffling situation while still drying herself off.

"Wasn't that little Arraipe so cute?" Akebi gushed with the volleyball players. The rest of the volleyball players didn't pay much heed to the busty blonde's fawning, simply looking into the sunrise in the manner of a job well done.

"No, it fucking wasn't!" Ron actually gave a response to Akebi's words, though it was of great annoyance and frustration. No doubt he was frustrated from getting effortlessly swatted aside by the tentacles of the beast. "Next time I see an Arraipe of _any_ size and I'm going to tear off all its godforsaken tentacles until it's no longer able to sustain itself due to a lack of ability to move!"

All members of _Rabbit_ Team were looking more remorseful rather than the relieved mood of everyone else, and for good reason.

"Saki found the little Arraipe on the beach yesterday…" Yuuki revealed with hands clasped together nervously. "… We had thought about reporting it somewhere…"

"But it only wanted to be around Saki…" Karina continued with the revelation.

Saki said nothing, but not for her usual reason of simply being that kind of person. Judging by her face, she was upset at having to say goodbye to the Arraipe, and in light of the freshmen's revelation, it made sense why. Saki had developed quite the bond with the unique creature, and having to say goodbye to it made her tear up.

The very quiet girl looked to her right upon feeling a hand descend upon her right shoulder. She found Miho standing there with a knowing smile. The light brunette knew _all_ of her tankers really well, and the quietest tanker of them all was no exception to that.

Miho turned her head to look back to the sunrise. "Yukari…" she began, knowing the tank guru was standing off a bit to the side. "It's true that the intelligence of humanity might be able to counter the unknown…" The light brunette's smile seemed to grow even brighter with the sun shining down on it. "However, the heart that tries to understand the unknown rather than conquer it might be the more important thing. And we showed that to the Arraipe."

Miho soon felt a masculine body lazily wrap around her from behind, and she could tell from the grip that it was Erich. "Ugh, _pleeeeeaaaaase…_ " the blonde moaned sleepily as he rested his head on her shoulder, going back to the everyday Erich that never lifted a finger if it wasn't necessary by his extremely lazy standards. "Can we _not_ sit here and talk about our _feelings,_ of all things? It's so _boring…_ "

Miho silently chuckled at her companion's mentality. Yep, it was back to being the unbearably lazy and childlike Erich for the blond-haired ultra-ace. The light brunette let one hand roam to his head and ruffle his hair affectionately. "I find it ironic considering at one time I heard you give the most heartfelt speech I ever heard in my life," she retorted.

"Huuuuuh...?" Erich muttered sleepily and slightly confused.

Miho continued to fiddle with the short blonde hair of her closest companion as she elaborated, "I heard what you said to Dziubek that one time."

"Wait, you were actually awake for that?" Erich became fully alert at remembering the time in question.

"Mmm-hmm," Miho hummed that he was correct in that assumption. "You _know_ I'm an extremely light sleeper."

"Ah, right," he remembered that particular aspect of Miho's habits. He then obliged the light brunette as he began to retell some of his words from the time in question as he stared into the sunset, standing up fully behind Miho and with a smile. "Never hate, it only eats you alive. Keep an open mind and always look for the good in people. You may be surprised at what you find."

XXXXXXXXXX

A TV screen went black as the content it showed came to its end.

"Uuuuuh…" Douglas droned for a bit at a complete loss.

"… What in blazes did we just watch?" Assam asked the question on everyone's mind.

Douglas, Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, Arthur, Assam, and Dennis were all seated on a couch in front of a now-black TV screen. They had just finished up watching a movie they were sent.

"Well, that was… _interesting,_ I'll say," Arthur offered his judgment on the film.

Dennis picked up the case that the movie they just watched came in. The case itself said 'Giant Arraipe vs. Ooarai Combat Group' with 'Final' just below. There was a small Saunders High School emblem on the cover as well. "Looks like this is one of the films the Americans plan to screen during their amateur film festival…" the Northern Irishman deduced.

"Wasn't this just an absolute masterpiece?!" Darjeeling excitedly said. She was apparently greatly interested by the movie. "Oh, I do wonder if there are any extras? Is there perhaps something like a commentary?"

"I doubt that…" Orange Pekoe offered her opinion. "Even though it's a final version, considering it's an amateur film, I don't think they had time to make any extras for it…"

"I see!" Darjeeling nodded, still full of energy. "Should we also make-?"

"Please, no," everyone else in the room cut her off with. They knew what Darjeeling would ask before she even finished, but they were all damned to hell for all eternity if they would let _Darjeeling_ of all people develop a movie. The rest of the British folks were sure they were doing the world a favor by not allowing the Englishwoman to produce a film.

XXXXXXXXXX

Disclaimer: no giant tentacled creatures were harmed in the making of this film.

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 ** _The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to_** **Actas.** ** _The music belongs to_** **Sabaton.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	117. Kapitel 24,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Vierundzwanzig: Kompanie der Helden**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Lang leb die Könige**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The battle at Prokhorovka was over, at long last. After three months of great anticipation and preparation for a large fight between the Germans and the Russians – of which one of those months contained nonstop combat between the two of them just to get a leg up on each other before the actual fight – the fierce fighting between millions of members of each countries' high school Arts of Warfare programs had come to an extremely nail-biting end for the battle between the two countries' best. Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium and Pravda Srednyaya Shkola had cut no corners in their battle against each other.

When the dust finally settled, it was with utter disbelief and shock that the German camp gleamed the results of the fight. The reason being was that the single _Tiger_ H1 number _212,_ commanded by Michael Nishizumi on the Schwarzwaldspitze side, had been taken out with a well-placed shot to its turret front.

The disbelief and heartbreak was magnified when it was unveiled that only one of the two Pravda T-34-85s had survived the final duel-like encounter. Kolenka's T-34-85 was knocked out of commission courtesy of the _Tiger_ I, but the other T-34-85 had been able to take out the German heavy tank with a shot to the flat turret front, avoiding the angled hull that was nearly impossible for the Russian 85 mm gun to penetrate.

And it was with that exploitation of a weak spot that Germany lost its crown that year, so close to retaining it as well, and the Russian flag proudly flew over the battlefield to mark the occasion.

" _URAAAAAAAAAA!_ " was the massive cheer bellowed in pride by the Russian side, ecstatic that they had _finally_ upset their long-time German rivals and achieved victory. Kolenka, the Russian tank commander that led the ground battle, was more prideful than ever, not caring one bit that he had to get a lift on the sole remaining Russian tank due to his being taken out. The brutish Russian waved the Russian tricolor overhead with pride.

Sasha, the Russian fighter ace that led the aerial assault, was perhaps the only one on the Russian side that didn't share the same overjoyed sentiment. She could feel it as she looked on from the side with arms crossed and a neutral expression, that something was not right with how their victory was achieved. Something just felt so incredibly _off,_ with how victory was achieved, and it bothered the blonde Russian pilot very much considering she could not readily identify the reason why, though she had a good idea as to one possible cause. A cause that Kolenka had trotted around and shown off like a pet at their base for about a week before the fight.

In short, Sasha didn't feel like Pravda had truly _earned_ their victory over Schwarzwaldspitze. She felt that something out of their control had influenced the outcome, though she couldn't say what exactly.

She was not the only aviation leader that was dissatisfied, though the only other person with such a position presently there was clearly so dissatisfied over the simple notion of _losing,_ that she didn't stop to think about _how_ her side had lost.

Isabel-Justina Hartmann was not pleased one bit by Schwarzwaldspitze's defeat. She clenched her fists and ground her teeth down, greatly pissed that her side hadn't walked away victorious. The black-haired ultra-ace just wanted to scorch that Russian flag using only her eyes with the look of pure anger she had directed at the banner.

The black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ had always been an extremely competitive girl growing up. That competitiveness, that pursuit to be the best, had not faded over the years. In fact, it had proven to be at its strongest in that moment of defeat via the Russians. She was unbelievably frustrated to have lost to _Pravda,_ of all foes. She didn't look down on any of her opponents, due to her choosing to look at them in an analytic manner at every possible instance. Isabel just held a somewhat petty personal dislike for Pravda due to the Russian school being known for using some very underhanded tactics, and it frustrated her that those same tactics were now vindicated thanks to Schwarzwaldspitze's defeat.

Well, she did have to admit that she also didn't much like Pravda's _Kapitan._ Isabel hated that extremely smug leer that Kolenka directed at the German side at the traditional end-of-fight handshake, and she wanted so badly to slap that grin off his face. But she restrained herself, because she did not want to cause a scene and make herself look like a sore loser, even if underneath she was really bitter about this loss.

Taking the cue Michael Nishizumi had given as he moved to give the Russian brute a humbling handshake, Isabel did the same with Pravda's _Komandir Divizii._ The black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ took note of the purposely neutral face that Sasha wore, along with her blue eyes that seemed to convey a message: ' _I don't consider this a victory._ '

That confused Isabel, even though she didn't show it outwardly as anything more than a brief pause. She then retracted her hand and turned around to walk off with no words spoken. She went off back to the airfield the _Jagdgeschwader_ had used as an airbase for the fight. The black-haired teen remained silent on the way over, not trusting herself to not descend into another tirade.

Isabel had already gone on a furious tirade, aimed at her little sister, earlier when the fight had just ended. The complete amount of rage she had vented in that tirade was quite daunting to say the least: by the time it was over, not a single member of Scharzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ remained unconvinced of Isabel's nickname, the Black Demoness, being inapplicable to her. Her string of words was as sharp as knives and, when combined with her rather cold dismissal of her sister, combined to be collectively as lethal as an executioner's ax on the down-swing.

The amount of frustration Isabel felt towards her younger sister, Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann, was immense. The black-haired girl just couldn't comprehend what in the world Erika's thought process was during the time she never responded to Isabel's calls over the radio. That, and she had yet to find out why Erika had been gone for such a long time prior to the fight, but there was no way she would get that information for at least a day considering how hard she had scolded the blonde. She knew that they both needed their time to cool down and recover from everything.

Isabel knew she couldn't ever descend to hating Erika, for she loved her little sister too much, but dammit the blonde made it seem so easy to with how often she frustrated her older sister. Isabel just wanted to know what was going on through Erika's mind in the fight, to at least _try_ to justify what she did. The black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ didn't know what had occurred with the blonde's small flight, which made her even more frustrated with the lack of knowledge.

It was a never-ending cycle of hatred, directed at no specific entity, and Isabel was sick of it. She hated the whole world right now. She just wanted to see all of Prokhorovka get scorched to blackness as some kind of reprisal for her frustration.

 _Dreams are seldom shattered  
By rogue actions under clouds_

Isabel hated how she had failed in her mission to bring Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium its tenth consecutive overall victory in the International High School Arts of Warfare Tournament. It was a grand dream for the black-haired teen to achieve such a high level of glory and notoriety, and to be truthful, it was a very realistic dream to have. There was such a small chance of failure in achieving that goal that she had not bothered to think of the possibility of _not_ achieving it.

But as small a chance as it was, the failure still happened, no thanks to her sister. Isabel was so conflicted on how to feel about her sister now as she clenched a fist absently. On one hand, she wanted to rip her a new one for being so irresponsible and such a _child_ that it ended up costing all of them a chance at great glory. But on the other, it was Erika, and try as she might, Isabel could never bring herself to truly despise her little sister.

 _Victors come and victors go  
Has our legend run aground?_

Isabel let herself grow calmer the longer she stayed in her thoughts. She eventually figured that this defeat was simply one that had to happen eventually, as inopportune as it was, because victory and defeat was an interconnected cycle. One could not exist without the other.

But despite the necessity of loss, Isabel still clung to that great glory of Schwarzwaldspitze's streak of perfection, because she herself had already chosen the path of achieving greatness. Suffice to say that when she fully discovered who Erich Hartmann was, she grew to absolutely admire him not just for being her great-grandfather, but more for everything he had ever done in his life. To Isabel, Erich Hartmann was a true hero. The black-haired girl's admiration for him eventually grew into a passion to be just as great as he was. But the loss to Pravda proved to be a great roadblock in that path, much greater than she first thought possible.

 _What shall we now turn to?!  
If legacy's torn apart?_

When she got back to the airfield her side was using, Isabel was not necessarily surprised to see how bitter and hostile the rest of the _Jagdgeschwader_ was. The loss to Pravda stung like nothing else. To be so close to achieving an unprecedented record and falling ever so short of the mark was immensely frustrating, and Isabel was far from the only one to feel that way. The collective thought among the _Jagdgeschwader_ was that they had been robbed of a win.

 _Faith was lost!  
And at what cost?!  
Has the grand dream lost its heart?!_

Isabel could see how the _Jagdgeschwader_ was no longer the tidal wave of aggression it once was during the midst of the battle. There was lots of finger-pointing and scapegoating among all of them, and none of it was truly logical. The _Jagdgeschwader_ had all previously pinned the blame on Erika, but they still had plenty of rage to vent, hence why they turned on each other and descended into infighting even after that initial scapegoating.

The black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ grew frustrated with herself at the sight, because she was supposed to lead all of them into the golden gates of glory, yet she had failed. Even though it wasn't her fault that they lost, she still had to accept the overall responsibility of losing, as much as she didn't want to.

 _(Lost by our own or to our foes?)  
Turned the tide!_

The ferocity of the infighting amongst the _Jagdgeschwader_ made Isabel feel sick to herself. Hearing the enraged howls of ' _Verräterin!_ ' was where she drew the line, and at that she strode forth to break them all up from their spats. It was somewhat hypocritical considering at one point in her tirade Isabel had called her sister a traitor, but the black-haired teen refused to let anyone else call each other traitors. She had only said that due to still being hyped on adrenaline from the fight, but now that she was relatively calmer, Isabel would not stand for hearing anyone else accuse another of being a _Verräter,_ nor a _Verräterin._

 _(Searches fruitless, still no one knows)  
The secret remains_

Seeing with a clearer mind now that was no longer fogged over with adrenaline, Isabel felt that she had not been fair to Erika before with her tirade, and she made a mental note to apologize later. She had just wanted to know what her younger sister was up to, both during the fight itself and for the several days before the fight that she had spent unaccounted for. But Isabel would have to wait, as Erika had already run off and was unable to be found by the elder Hartmann. She figured that her sister needed some space for a bit, so she would wait until the blonde was ready to talk again to both apologize for her own outburst and to ask about what happened with her. Until then, Isabel, as well as everyone else on _both_ sides, was clueless as to what had transpired with the young blonde ultra-ace, which by association translated into what happened to make Schwarzwaldspitze lose the fight against Pravda.

 _Broken dreams of grand  
Sing of our final stand  
Long live Black Forest_

Isabel had given the rest of the _Jagdgeschwader_ a passionate verbal lashing for fighting amongst each other, and everyone under her command fell silent after hearing how greatly disappointed the _Geschwaderkommodore_ was in their most recent actions. After getting their lashing, a lot of the members started shedding tears of absolute frustration as their clenched fists trembled. This wasn't at all what Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdwaffe_ had pictured the aftermath of the fight being. The dream to go a full decade undefeated was now broken, and it was painful.

 _Brought by tankers' hands  
Back to the fatherland  
Lang leb Schwarzwaldspitze_

Isabel's expression grew a bit softer when she noted how everyone else was also agonized by the sting of defeat. "Go get some rest," she ordered and dismissed simultaneously. "Tomorrow we start heading back home."

After that, Isabel gracefully dropped into the passenger seat of a Volkswagen Kübelwagen driven up to her by Michael Nishizumi. With that, the black-haired teen left the _Jagdgeschwader_ to their own devices as she herself was taken back to the place she, her sister, plus Manfred and Michael Nishizumi had settled into as temporary residence for the campaign in the east.

Isabel sighed during the ride, feeling overwhelmed by the day's events. " _Michi,_ " she addressed Michael with a long-time nickname as she absently gazed at the passing scenery of fields and a few wooded areas that the sun was quickly setting behind. "… Tell me you're not getting as much of a headache from this scenario as I am."

Michael kept his eyes on the dirt road he drove the rear-engine general purpose vehicle down. He did offer a short response, however, "Not yet." He was very sure to include the 'yet' part, because the dark brunette predicted that the storm of frustration was not yet over. There was still a lot of fallout to come, he felt.

 _Returned back to our home  
Our hearts heavy in our chests_

It took a couple of days for the Schwarzwaldspitze _Kampfgruppe_ to travel back through Eastern Europe to their home. They headed back to their land-based campus in Freiburg, because there was no need to travel by sea to get to the location of their most recent fight.

It didn't seem to matter to everyone returning, though. Everyone within the _Kampfgruppe_ was feeling pretty bummed out from the loss to Pravda. In addition to the loss bumming them out, the _Panzerabteilung_ was also not as bright due to none of them having heard a single time from Erika. It was disheartening, because unlike the _Jagdgeschwader,_ the _Panzerabteilung's_ overall opinion on Erika was pretty positive; they all very much enjoyed hearing of her, which in practice or sometimes in combat was mostly when she decided to blast her favored heavy metal music over the line, but they still liked to hear her regardless. It was disconcerting to them all when that heavy metal never sounded a single time.

 _Endless war, and all for naught  
We can finally have some rest_

It was disappointing to have to return having not achieved their objective, but the Schwarzwaldspitze _Kampfgruppe_ could at least look forward to having some time to rest and deal with the frustration in their own ways.

The biggest exceptions to taking time to rest were Isabel and Michael, because the life of a _Kommandeur_ for Schwarzwaldspitze didn't much allow for rest. The _Geschwaderkommodore_ and _Kapitän_ were already planning ahead for the next season, busy as ever.

Manfred Nishizumi, however, spent his so-called 'rest' mentally going over recent events, in particular anything that could've happened to drive Erika away. It was painful every time he remembered those sea blue eyes being as wet as the sea itself with tears of emotional turmoil.

 _What will be uncovered?!  
From that May's frustrating fight?_

Isabel was wondering similar things, too. She never liked being in the dark when it came to battle, but especially she didn't like to be out of the know if it was something involving Erika. Admittedly, she was starting to get a little worried, as she hadn't seen her sister since coldly dismissing her back at Kursk. The black-haired teen wasn't excessively worried, however, as she was already used to the blonde going off for random reasons. She was pretty sure she was fine.

 _Back at Kursk!  
What happened there?!  
Will it ever come to light?!_

But Isabel still wanted to know exactly what had happened during the time spent in the east, so she started investigating around. She just had to know what had happened to cause Schwarzwaldspitze to lose, that way the problem could be resolved.

Manfred Nishizumi was also curious about what had happened, though he was more concerned with how it related to Erika. He had tried to call her numerous times, but every single time, the blonde runaway never picked up. "Please, Erika…" he practically begged for his latest message, deeply concerned about her well-being ever since she abruptly left. "If anything else, at least tell me that you're okay…"

 _(Lost by our own or to our foes?)  
Turned the tide!_

" _GEH WEG!_ " Erik Ignatz raged at Isabel to leave him be. The black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ had only wanted to ask him what he had seen happen after learning he was one of the members of the small tank detachment led by Manfred sent out during the battle at Prokhorovka. That detachment had strangely gone silent like Erika's small flight had part-way through the fight, and Isabel had a sneaking suspicion that both of their disappearances were interconnected with one another. But the black-haired ultra-ace backed away and gave up on asking Erik, as she could clearly see from his flaring temper how the light blonde _Panzer_ III commander was still overly embittered by the loss.

 _(Searches fruitless, still no one knows)  
The secret remains!_

Isabel then moved onto the driver of said _Panzer_ III, also coincidentally one of the few friends Manfred Nishizumi had managed to make. Karl Ackerschmidt was much more friendly compared to the bulk of Schwarzwaldspitze's warriors, hence why Manfred got along with him really well. With some brown hair with a tinge of red in it along with sky blue eyes, Karl did not possess a hot temper like many of his comrades did.

But the _Panzer_ III driver couldn't tell Isabel anything about what happened during the fight against Pravda, because whenever he recalled the scene of Erika limping towards the _Tiger_ while dragging along a burn-inflicted Hanna Jochen, he nearly hurled from the memory. It was horrifying how much pain he saw in both of the aviators.

 _Broken dreams of grand  
Sing of our final stand  
Long live Black Forest_

"Sorry, _fräulein Geschwaderkommodore,_ but I lost contact with her before that point," Helmine Bimmel shrugged with apology when Isabel asked for her recollection in the hangars. The crew chief for Erika's Bf 109 had long, silky smooth black hair reaching the middle of her back and a pair of blue eyes. Helmine was a very kind person at heart, and one who held friendships in very high regard. For instance, when she heard that Erika had gone missing, she immediately insisted on leading a rescue mission to retrieve her. If it wasn't for Isabel holding her back, she would've gone on her own regardless of whether she had help or not, considering she had quickly grabbed a _Karabiner_ 98 _Kurz_ rifle to arm herself with. She had a fierce loyalty to Erika, unmatched by anyone else on the _Jagdgeschwader_ and by that note was one of the biggest exceptions to the _Jagdgeschwader's_ generally negative outlook on Erika.

 _Brought by tankers' hands  
Back to the fatherland  
Lang leb Schwarzwaldspitze_

After asking pretty much everybody involved within Schwarzwaldspitze's Arts of Warfare program for their recollections and getting no satisfactory answers, Isabel began getting frustrated with the lack of information again. Was there a single person besides Erika who knew what happened? All the black-haired teen wanted was to know what happened, and yet it seemed fate did not want her to learn that information.

But soon enough, Hanna Jochen came to Isabel's office unexpectedly. Isabel had to fight hard to keep her composure, because seeing one of her most talented pilots tainted with prominent burn marks across her face – remaining even after she was treated – was sickening and very upsetting to the black-haired ultra-ace. Curiously enough, the black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ saw that the blonde seated before her did not hold the same level of arrogance as she normally did. Instead, Hanna was much quieter and reserved, and Isabel could tell that some part of that was because of the burns across her face: those marks had otherwise ruined the face of a perfectionist, and the black-haired teen imagined it to be quite a shock to the system to find out that all of that effort spent building a perfect body was now gone in an instant.

Isabel eventually figured out the other reason why Hanna was notably more reserved than arrogant, and that had to do with how the blonde retold the events she was asking for from her own point of view. Not a single detail was wrong, considering Hanna had been with Erika for the entirety of the events in question, but Isabel was a bit thankful that the blonde was unable to retell the point in which she was trapped in a burning fighter, since Hanna had been rendered unconscious from the force of the crash landing in the trees.

After finishing talking with the facially-burned blonde, Isabel knew she needed to try and find Erika herself rather than wait for her to come to her. She really needed to apologize for her tirade against her. Only a second after Hanna left her office, Isabel got an unexpected invite on her computer for a video chat. Even more unexpected when she accepted was that the caller was Sasha, Pravda's _Komandir Divizii._ The blonde Russian ace had a talk with her German counterpart that centered around what Sasha knew of Erika's time spent in Kolenka's captivity.

During the talk, Isabel had to try _really_ hard to keep her composure, because she was feeling a very volatile mixture of emotions taking in what Sasha said had happened to her sister. One of the most obvious emotions was sheer anger at the brutish Russian for putting Erika through all that mental torture.

Sasha seemed to already know Isabel was feeling that particular emotion, because she reassured her with, " _Don't worry, I'll knock the living daylights out of him for you. I'd do it anyways, but I can do it for you as well._ "

Though she wanted to torture the brutish Russian herself, Isabel thanked Sasha for that consideration, and their chat soon came to an end. After knowing what Hanna and Sasha told her of the events she wanted to know, Isabel knew she desperately needed to find Erika as soon as possible and try everything in her powers to gain forgiveness from her. Now, it made so much sense as to why Erika looked so afraid of her during her tirade against her. Looking at it from her point of view, Isabel had made herself seem to be a monster with her actions. She had effectively destroyed Erika's perception of her in one fell swoop and alienated her from the understanding older sister that Isabel had always been.

"Where _is_ she?!" Isabel nearly yelled at Manfred Nishizumi back at their campus residence, on the edge of losing her composure.

The light brunette _Tiger_ ace was caught off-guard by how desperate the elder Hartmann appeared for knowing where Erika was, but he was also afraid of what Isabel could be capable of if she lost control of herself. So Manfred slowly took out a note, a very particular note, and handed it to the black-haired girl, bracing himself for a reaction. Unseen, Michael Nishizumi peeked into the area to see what had made Isabel raise her voice so much.

 _For our honor!  
For our glory!  
For my sis who fought and bled!_

' _I'm sorry I wasn't good enough for your love, Isabel. I tried and tried my hardest to make you proud of me, but I guess I wasn't trying hard enough. Perhaps I was going in the wrong direction the whole time. You can consider this as my resignation from the Jagdgeschwader, but if I can make one last request, then please make sure you pick someone worthy of being your next Oberleutnant. I still want to see the team do well, even if I'm not a part of it anymore. With that being said, I guess this is goodbye. I will always love you, Isabel, never forget that. I just can't deal with the pain of that love being unrequited. That's why I need to leave. So, goodbye, Schwester. -Erika_ '

Isabel read through the whole note with her hand shaking, and found herself unable to speak for fear her voice would crack in anguish. As tears began to well up in the black-haired girl's eyes, Isabel knew that she was right in the way Erika saw her: as a monster. To now know the consequences of her adrenaline-driven actions, she would've done _anything_ to take them back.

 _For my grave mistake, she will see me as dead!_

The black-haired _Geschwaderkommodore_ fell to her knees and, slamming her left fist into the ground, let out a cry of agony as she fully descended into tears. Her left hand was easily broken from slamming it into the hard floor, but Isabel couldn't bring herself to care about that. The pain of driving away the one person she loved more than anything else in the world, her dear little sister, hurt so much more by comparison.

Why did she have to speak her mind so carelessly at that precise moment after the fight? If she would've held her composure, then everything would be just fine still. But no, Isabel just _had_ to vent her rage of losing onto an Erika that _really_ didn't need that ferocious scolding on top of everything else she went through. For that, Isabel would never forgive herself, and she saw no chance of Erika ever forgiving her. Despite how she never wished for it to happen, Isabel knew that Erika had every reason to see her as dead to her.

 _Broken dreams of grand  
Sing of our final stand  
Long live Black Forest_

This wasn't supposed to happen. Isabel had always dreamed that Erika would be by her side all the way, and that they would both climb to the top and achieve true greatness together. Now, that dream was no more after the black-haired teen's actions. Her impulsiveness ruined everything. Her extremely competitive spirit ruined everything. Her harshness ruined everything. And what made it even worse was that Isabel had effectively lived up to her popular nickname with her actions: she felt like she really was a demoness, with the blackest of hearts. The Black Demoness was a monster.

 _Brought by tankers' hands  
Back to the fatherland  
Long live Black Forest_

As Isabel let out her pain, Michael kneeled down beside her and held her close to him. It might've seemed to be a vain effort, because after everything that happened, Isabel appeared to be inconsolable. But Michael didn't want her to suffer alone. He just wanted to be there for Isabel, a lifelong friend, in her darkest hour. He let her cry to her heart's content, which he knew meant that he'd be there for a while. But it didn't matter to the elder Nishizumi: he'd stay there forever if need be for one of his best friends.

 _Broken dreams of grand  
Sing of our final stand  
Long live Black Forest_

As he watched Isabel cry harder than he'd ever seen before, Manfred felt even more upset knowing that he had indirectly been a cause of her pain. Not only from his assisting Erika during the fight and therefore contributing to the loss, but also his failure to stop her from leaving afterwards. It didn't matter which one it was, because what made the younger Nishizumi feel even worse was that Erika was having to suffer through similar pain all by herself, with no one there for her.

 _Brought by tankers' hands  
Back to the fatherland  
(Lang leb) Schwarzwaldspitzeeeee!_

Seeing Isabel so broken from the falling-out, Manfred decided in that moment that he just _had_ to go out and find Erika. He couldn't allow his best friend to suffer all by herself, he just couldn't. It didn't matter to him that he'd have to leave everyone else behind in his quest to find her; he was sure Isabel and Michael would understand. Even if he _was_ missed by anyone – which he highly doubted thanks to him not being able to make many friends – he wouldn't change his mind. He didn't want to have to forever remember Erika by that single kiss she gave him before exiting his life forever. He just couldn't accept it. So he packed his bags and departed Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium as well, in a search to find his greatest friend and potential girlfriend if that kiss held any meaning.

With everything that happened to Erika and Isabel, both Manfred and Michael could see how the relationship all four of them had with each other was going to change drastically from then on. Things would change, and they would change until they were no longer recognizable.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	118. Kapitel 25,1

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 ** _Bogen Fünfundzwanzig: Ein Blick auf Ooarai_**

 ** _Kapitel Ein: Es ist zurückerobern der M3!_**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was another day aboard the _Zuikaku_ that housed Ooarai High School. Turning to the school's hangars, nothing was amiss from the norm. All of the members for the Arts of Warfare programs were just chatting about as they awaited the _Panzerkraft_ and _Jägermeistern_ commanders.

" _Please,_ " Wolf rolled his eyes at the other history buffs before shifting his _Schirmmütze_ with a hand. "The Six-Day War was a pure religious conflict through and through, and we all know that religious conflicts are never conflicts with any sort of reason in mind. The Arabs and Israelis especially need no reason to go to war with each other." The eight-strong group of history buffs were having another debate about history, this one in particular being about the Six-Day War between Israel and the Arab countries of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

"Ah, but!" Abe interjected with a raised finger with a counter ready. "That war emphasized that the element of surprise as well as competence were decisive elements in warfare."

Gustav nodded in agreement with the American history buff. "If not for those two attributes, then the Israelis would've been eradicated by three different enemies all working together," the Swedish history buff, also the de facto Nordic history buff of the group, added onto Abe's side of the argument.

"Let us not forget the ramifications of Israel's 'preemptive strikes,' though," Caesar said her piece as she shifted her weight from leg to leg. She was sure to place air-quotes around 'preemptive strikes,' to emphasize how Israel had fired the first shots. "For one, the Israelis got very cocky afterwards, which led to initial Arab successes in the Yom Kippur War. And, of course, there was the expulsion of Jewish minorities within Arab countries plus the great number of Palestinians and Syrians that had to flee Israel's newest conquests."

As the history buffs continued their debate on the Six-Day War and the Arab-Israeli conflicts in general, others chatted amongst themselves about various things. Everyone was in the basic Ooarai school uniform, as no plans were made to do some intense training that day.

While everyone was occupied with each other, Miho Nishizumi and Erich-Dietrich Hartmann came through the open hangar doors, talking with each other in the process, or rather more like bantering if their playful and amused looks were anything to go by.

"Yeah, yeah, so you keep saying…" Erich rolled his eyes in good nature.

Miho playfully shoved him with a brief giggle. "Of course, because you know I'm right," she returned as she tilted her chin up with a playful smirk.

"We'll see about that," Erich forewarned with a playful grin.

Miho shook her head at the blonde, clearly enjoying the little chat she had with her greatest friend. Now, though, it came to an end when the light brunette noted how they had reached their destination. "You going to do it this time?" she shot Erich a questioning look.

The blonde shrugged. "I guess I will," he nonchalantly answered. He then stuck the middle and index fingers of his right hand into his mouth just so, and let out a very sharp whistle that could be clearly heard throughout the entire hangar.

The effect was immediate as everyone else in the hangar brought their idle conversations to an end and turned to Erich upon hearing the ear-piercing whistle.

"Practice time!" the blonde decreed with arms spread out grandly and a huge grin. "My guys, let's get going!" He brought one arm up and waved it in a circular motion with two brought-together fingers up, a signal to round up and get moving.

"Girls, to your _Panzers!_ " Miho gave orders to her subordinates immediately after Erich gave his own orders. She was not one to make grand entrances and gestures like her blonde companion, hence her keeping her orders short and to the point.

"YEAH!" most everybody in the hangar cheered in response. Morale was pretty high that day as everyone began to bustle about to their vehicles.

The members of _Rabbit_ Team reached their M3 _Lee_ first, and the girls made conversation whilst boarding the American tank.

"You guys want to stop somewhere on the way home today?" Aya asked as she climbed up the hull to the turret.

"I wanna get some ice cream!" Karina responded while trying to heave herself into the large hatch on the left side of the hull. The short freshman was having a difficult go at it.

"But we already did that yesterday…" Azusa said as she fell into the commander's hatch from the top of the tank.

Karina grunted as she summoned her strength to heave herself into the American tank. It worked as she got enough of her body inside to keep from falling out again, and she crawled the rest of the way in, the hatch closing behind her. She then stopped as she caught sight of something rather odd. "Huh?" was the go-to response for her confusion.

The oddity she stopped at was something that appeared to be moving across the driver's gauges. After squinting to see it better, Karina widened her eyes and screamed in abject horror.

The other five girls inside the tank quickly looked at Karina upon hearing her scream, and she was pointing at the gauges with a shaking hand. Upon seeing what she was screaming over, the rest of them besides Saki also started screaming in pure terror.

The reason they were screaming so greatly was because of one thing, one very disgusting thing: a cockroach had found its way inside the M3 _Lee._

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_ " the collective scream, nearly constant in length, sounded all throughout the hangar as the girls inside the American tank started bouncing off its inner walls trying to escape the roach.

"GAH, what the hell?!" Anton Silva jerked in surprise from the scream. It was very fortunate of him that he didn't crush his fingers, considering he was loading the Bf 109 K-4's _Motorkanone_ MK 108 cannon with its 30 mm rounds. Erich had squeezed the trigger on the stick as a reflex to the scream, which caused the bolt to shoot forward after being unleashed from its high-tension spring, which would've certainly cut off a finger or two since he was trying to feed the 30 mm rounds into the breech for the bolt to pick up. Very fortunate for him, indeed, that he was able to jerk his hands away in time.

Many others also reacted to the scream by reflex, like Erich, who was completely unaware of his role in nearly taking Anton's fingers off, or if he was aware, then simply unconcerned with it. Instead, he climbed his way out of the 109 to see what the fuss was about. Upon hearing the screams and placing their identities, Anton took off in that direction, not at all concerned about his fingers' brush with severing compared to the screaming freshman girls that he cared about greatly. Also heading to the M3 was Miho, flanked by Yukari and Saori.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Anton arrived first at the American tank. "Hey! Girls!"

It took a longer-than-desired time for the freshmen inside to open up the left-hand hull hatch, but when it did open, Karina immediately jumped in the direction of Anton, almost by instinct.

"Oh, fuck," the blonde American briefly muttered before Karina collided with him. The boy instinctively caught the small girl in his arms, though he did stutter a step back thanks to the unexpected reception.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Anton quickly grew concerned over Karina's tears. He then decided it didn't matter as much as the blatant recklessness the girl exhibited jumping out of the tank like she did. "Look, whatever that was, don't jump from high places like-!"

"UNCLE!" the blonde American was cut off by some more distraught cries. Looking back to the source, Anton in response immediately braced when he saw how the rest of the _Rabbit_ Team besides Saki had also jumped out of the tank like it was a life-or-death scenario.

"Ack!" he grunted upon catching Yuuki, nearly being brought to his knees. "Ngh!" He absorbed the force Aya had brought with her when she landed atop him. "Guh!" Then Ayumi came, and the boy's legs trembled under the strain of having four girls piled on him, but he still remained on his feet. He couldn't even make a noise when Azusa joined the pile after her jump, as the strain he was under seemingly forbade him from doing anything besides holding up the five girls piled onto him.

Then Saki ceremoniously jumped from the hull hatch atop the remaining five girls of _Rabbit_ Team, and Anton shook under the weight of six freshman girls trying to cling to him. But, miraculously, he was still on his feet, even if he was only a hay straw away from being brought down. With trembling legs, he slowly stood with all six girls clinging to him still.

"aaaaaAAAAAH!" Anton grunted throughout the attempt to stand and ended on a roar as his legs locked in place to allow him to stand up to his full height. With a heaving chest, it was reasonable to predict that his leg muscles would burn for a few days probably, but it was a very remarkable achievement that he didn't collapse under the weight of six girls. Perhaps it was sheer willpower stemming from his great fondness of them that allowed it.

Upon reaching the scene, Erich took a moment to stop and just take in the picture of Anton somehow still standing while having six girls clinging to him. "Damn," was all he could say, as he was thoroughly impressed with that feat of strength.

" _Rabbit_ Team, what happened?!" Miho asked with great concern upon reaching the scene for herself with Yukari and Saori tagging along behind. The ginger of the trio strode forth to the _Rabbit_ Team's members to offer her own comfort.

"The M3 is…!" Azusa tried to say to Miho in response, but she was very traumatized like the rest of the girls, except for Saki. "Our tank got…!" In the end, she was unable to speak through her terrified sobbing.

"It's been claimed by that _thing!_ " Karina gave a response to Miho's inquiry, despite fearful tears streaming down her cheeks.

"What 'thing?'" Erich asked with a raised eyebrow, imitating the inflection of Karina's voice at 'thing.'

"It's a G!" Karina screamed out in utter traumatization at having to actually say the creature's name aloud.

The blond-haired ultra-ace furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not understanding what a 'G' was. "… What?" he muttered his confusion.

"Ah…" Miho smiled in a knowing way, concern washing away with knowledge. Unlike her blonde companion, she understood what the freshmen were referring to. "Well, considering it's getting warmer out, it shouldn't be a surprise that they're starting to come out."

"What do you mean?" Erich turned his head to Miho to ask. "What the devil is a G?"

"Oi, what are you doing making such a fuss over a damn G!?" Momo yelled from across the hangar by the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t), her great impatience showing. Everyone by the M3 _Lee_ turned to her upon hearing her speak up. "Get rid of the thing and start training at once! Understood?!"

"No, I don't!" Erich snarked back, clearly annoyed that he wasn't in the know with what was happening. "Could you bother to speak up a little louder?! I don't think I could hear you that first time!" Of course, the blonde's inherent dislike for authority was perhaps another factor as well for his snarky attitude.

He felt Miho's gentle hand come down on his shoulder, and taking a glance at her face, she was clearly displeased with his attitude. Erich took the message and simply turned away from Momo's direction. "Seriously, what the devil is a G anyway?" he said with a fair amount of annoyance, though it was much less than before.

"No, I don't wanna!" Yuuki sobbed into Anton's neck. "I don't wanna get in the tank!" All the freshmen were now contributing to sharing their total weight as some had their feet on the floor, but they all still clung to the blonde American that caught them all, excluding Saki who was off to the side silent as ever. Saori took some of the girls into her own arms, creating a rather entangled maze of limbs with all seven of them holding onto each other.

"Well the thing is…" Saori started to try and convince the group as a whole that it wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"Uncle…" Aya whined as she held onto Anton from behind, and that made the ginger give up with trying to convince them to get back in the tank. It simply wasn't worth the trouble now.

"It's gotta still be in there!" Karina bawled into Anton's other side. Saori stroked the back of her hand over her head comfortingly. "I'm sure it's still in there!"

Miho took the time to speak with Erich simultaneously. "'G' is short for ' _gokiburi,_ '" the light brunette revealed to the blonde with her far superior comprehension of Japanese compared to Erich, who knew practically nothing of the language. "It's the _Japanisch_ word for _eine Kakerlake._ " She decided to reveal it to him in their native tongue, ' _Kakerlake_ ' being what they called a cockroach in said native tongue.

Erich raised his eyebrows in understanding. "Ah, I see," he comprehended as he nodded. " _Eine Kakerlake._ "

"What should we do about it, Lady Nishizumi? _Bubi?_ " Yukari asked the two of them from nearby.

Erich shrugged nonchalantly in response. "Easy," he answered. He then stomped one of his black combat boots onto the ground. "Stomp on it."

"Well, there might be more than one," Miho interjected with her judgment.

"Ah, I can help if that's the case," Wolf offered from behind the trio of Miho, Erich, and Yukari. "I've got just the tool to use."

"Let's hunt this _kackerlacka_ down," Gustav darkly grinned as he drew his saber from its sheath.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Akebi innocently and rather loudly asked out of curiosity from behind the two history buffs, increasing her voice's volume to get her query to reach the ears of Miho, Erich, Yukari, and everyone else around the freshman girls.

During the time everyone else talked, the freshman girls had disentangled themselves from Anton as they settled down, and were observing the scene.

Azusa, however, grew that unique look of hers whenever she felt she needed to do something without help from the seniors. To her, she felt she needed to prove how the group of freshmen wasn't dead weight, and having the older members help them out was counterintuitive to that.

"Wait, don't worry!" Azusa waved her hands out to the more senior members. "Please, go start practice without us! We'll catch up!" The young brunette then turned to her fellow _Rabbit_ Team members. "Girls, let's go take care of it!"

"Huh? But…" Karina uttered, confused. Her confusion was representative of the rest of _Rabbit_ Team. None of them really expected Azusa to insist on all of them together doing the job to take out the cockroach. They thought maybe someone else that _wasn't_ scared of the creatures would do so.

"But Gs are scary…" Aya tried to object, but it came out rather half-hearted. She, as well as the other freshman girls, weren't really the kind to stand up against their de facto leader, hence her objection faltering.

"The M3 is _our_ tank!" Azusa continued, invigorated by the notion of anything relating to their tank being their responsibility, hence her deliberate emphasizing of 'our.' "So it's up to us to take care of it and prevent it from being captured by such an insignificant creature!"

The young brunette tank commander's confidence in her speaking lit up a fire of determination within the rest of the freshmen, as they all drew their faces into more confident and determined expressions.

Well, excluding Saki, as always. Her face remained as it was in its not-all-there expression.

"Is that understood?!" Azusa raised her voice to the girls.

"YES!" all of the other freshmen responded, overflowing with the determination their commander had just implanted within them.

"Good, now let's get to it!" the young brunette commanded.

At her call, the rest of the girls began to shuffle across the hangars to get started, but Azusa felt a hand come down on her shoulder, halting her. Looking back to the source, she found it to be Erich that held her back, with a rather proud look on his face.

"That was nicely done, how you handled that situation," he commended. He then smiled in a more supportive way. "I know you want to really do this yourself, but I just want to remind you that there's no shame to be had in asking for help."

"Oh, no, I didn't mean to-!" Azusa quickly tried to deny the blonde's assumption about her desire to prove herself, out of not wanting to sound offensive from sounding like she was outright denying his help, but Erich cut her off with a broad sweep of his other hand.

"Regardless," he continued, silencing the young brunette in the process. "If you feel like you need it, don't be afraid to call me for help. I've already got the workings of a plan in mind, so if you need me, just call for me. Okay?"

Azusa nodded, albeit a bit reluctantly. "Okay," she agreed, even though she really wanted to not bring anyone else down with her.

Erich gave her a light rap on the shoulder as encouragement with his hand that still rested there. "Great," he responded before lightly pushing her in the direction of the other freshmen. "Now go get 'em!"

The young brunette stumbled a bit from the friendly push, but she corrected herself and strode over to her fellow freshmen. She did turn her head back a bit to get another glance of Erich.

Even though the blond-haired German ultra-ace was a very unique person that could seem narcissistic and uncivilized if looked at with a less open mindset, considering he went from boisterous to confused to snarky to calm in such a quick time, Azusa could now understand why Miho loved him so dearly: he was _great_ at being a friend. Even with his faults, the young brunette felt so much more confident in herself now thanks to his support.

Azusa wondered if Erich was capable of making _anyone_ feel so invigorated as easily as he had with her, considering the great boost in her self-confidence she felt now thanks to the blonde's actions. Perhaps she could ask Miho about it later to see if that was the truth. But now, to get rid of a cockroach with her other freshmen pals.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You guys finished prepping up?" Azusa asked later as she finished tying together the laces on her black combat boots. The boots extended up to about the middle of her lower leg. She overall wore an outfit similar to a commando outfit, with black cargo pants, a similarly-colored sleeveless combat vest, and a gray t-shirt underneath. Added to that were some black fingerless gloves and some shades. Fitted into various pouches on the vest and cargo pants were some spray-can pesticides Jerry-rigged to operate like a grenade, with the pesticide mixture within being the payload fuzed to go off five seconds after the pin going through the top was pulled.

After donning a baseball cap with the _Rabbit_ Team insignia on the front, Aya grew a confident smirk as she gave her status update, "Ready here!" The twin-tailed blonde also had a combat-ready outfit, though hers was somewhat different from Azusa's. While the black boots and black cargo pants were the same, Aya's black combat vest was long-sleeved and had a zipper going down the middle, creating a different pouch arrangement to make way for the zipper. Those pouches held similar pesticide grenades as those Azusa had. She also had some black fingerless gloves, but kept her normal glasses and added an earpiece in her right ear.

Karina chambered a can of pesticide into, well… a chamber, on top of a small sub-machine gun-sized weapon, which served to load the unique weapon with its payload. The weapon itself was designed such that the can on top would supply the mist of pesticide to be pressurized by the breech, and, upon the trigger being pulled, then unleashed out of the barrel to spray a concentrated dose of the pesticide.

Karina had the same black boots and black cargo pants Azusa and Aya had, though the rest of her outfit differed considerably. Her vest, while long-sleeved, lacked a way to take it off quickly like a zipper down the front, as it was notably beefier. It was fitted with pouches as well, carrying some more cans to supply the pesticide SMG with as well as some pesticide grenades. She also had a black helmet with some goggles with a black strap resting on the forehead portion along with a small gas mask hanging around her neck, plus some black gloves that fully covered her fingers.

Ayumi had black combat boots and black cargo pants, along with black fingerless gloves. She wore a white tank top, and over that and around her lower torso was a black garment that acted as holsters and as pouches. Under her armpits and in the holsters were two pesticide grenades, one per side, and in the torso pouches were some more pesticide grenades. The relatively tall freshman also had a black ribbon tied around her left arm, midway between her shoulder and elbow. The weapon she rested over her shoulder was a swatter, with a circular surface on the swatting end. As an addition, Ayumi had tied up her normally free-flowing black hair into a high ponytail.

Yuuki had one of the more unique outfits, with some more stylish and shorter combat boots that were lace-less. Some black tights ran up her legs up to mid-thigh, with the right leg having a holster. The tights were utilized due to her choice of some relatively short black shorts, also equipped with holsters to store pesticide grenades. She also wore a gray tank top that was tied off at the back, which resulted in her abdomen being exposed. The tank top also had a holster fashioned into it. Around her neck was a black bandana, ready to be brought up over her lower face in a moment's notice. Some goggles with a black strap rested on her forehead, and she rounded herself out with some black fingerless gloves as well as a black ribbon tied around her right arm, midway between her elbow and shoulder, much like Ayumi.

Saki had what could be interpreted as a cold-weather commando outfit, with black combat boots that were lace-less and some thicker cargo pants with pouches holding pesticide grenades. In one of those pouches was a thick book to bring down on and smash any cockroaches with. She had a thicker, long-sleeved upper garment with a beefier black vest with pouches holding more pesticide grenades. Covering her whole head were a black balaclava, black goggles, and a black helmet with the _Rabbit_ Team emblem painted on the side. She also had some thick black gloves that covered her whole hand, and in each hand was a rolled-up newspaper to smack roaches with. Saki's outfit was unique in that not a single blemish of skin was visible for her: she was so heavily covered-up.

"Alright, then let's get moving and take back our tank!" Azusa commanded her small six-strong group of commandos.

The group moved out immediately and into action from the small corner of the hangar they had prepared in, with Azusa and Aya leading the way a bit ahead of the rest. Both of them each took a pesticide grenade in hand, not to throw yet, but to be prepared in case a quick retaliation was needed.

Azusa and Aya reached a crate at the end of a line of crates and scrambled to the corner with their backs up against the wall the crates effectively made. Azusa peeked around a corner, and she gave a halt signal with a closed fist to the rest of the group. All besides Aya held back a ways, further back along the wall of crates.

Azusa got enough of a glimpse at the M3 _Lee,_ and from what she saw, nothing was amiss. That meant everything was so far so good, and the young brunette deemed it safe to bring the others to hers and Aya's position. So she waved them forth with one hand while keeping an eye on the American tank.

Azusa then looked to Karina, and gave a signal with her hand, keeping it flat and sliding it through the air in that position. That signal was understood to mean crawl to the enemy position, and Karina gave a brief salute to show her understanding before she donned her goggles over her eyes.

With her heavier cladding, Karina quickly sprinted around the corner into a roll that was followed by a brisk-paced military crawl on her front to the M3. In seemingly no time at all, she was upon the tank and braced herself, crouched and with her back to the hull.

Looking back at Azusa, she noted how the young commander had her binoculars out to observe the tank and its surroundings. Her fist was held up closed, and Karina knew that to mean she had to hold position.

After deeming it clear, Azusa lowered her binoculars from her face and flashed a thumbs-up at Karina. The small tank driver flashed back a confirmatory thumbs-up as she lifted her gas mask over her nose and mouth.

Karina then fished out a pesticide grenade from one of her pouches and prepared herself to prime it. She moved a hand to ghost over the left-hand hull hatch of the tank as she mentally recalled what to do. Then she moved her hand back and used it to pull the pin on the pesticide grenade, and quickly opened the hatch, chucked the grenade in, and slammed it shut before diving away from the area, bracing for the coming blast. The rest of the girls, still behind the crate serving as cover, did the same and braced.

A few tense seconds of silence passed before a soft blast sounded, and a plume of pesticide gas filled up the interior of the M3. Very quickly, the plume expanded to include the area around the tank as it escaped from the miniscule and otherwise insignificant gaps in the hull. Noting the successful outcome, Karina clenched a fist in achievement as the rest of the girls came out from behind their cover to celebrate their victory.

"Awesome, you did it!" Aya cheered.

"Karina!" Azusa cheered in accomplishment as she removed her shades with a big grin on her face.

"You're the best!" Yuuki cheered with a spirited wave.

"Nice job!" Ayumi also cheered.

All of the freshmen, besides Saki, had cheered with each other practically simultaneously with their words overlapping over each other. Karina responded with a spirited thumbs-up as she started walking through the now-dissipating pesticide plume, followed by her removing her gas mask and bringing her goggles back up to her helmet.

She met Azusa half-way and both brought their hands together in a strong grip. "We took it back!" Karina grinned in pure accomplishment, and Azusa returned the same grin of achievement. "Our tank is ours again!"

It was all smiles in the area, until Azusa saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Looking down, she caught sight of some things crawling along the ground between her and Karina.

Karina noted how Azusa was looking down, and she caught sight of those things as well. Those 'things' were cockroaches.

" _AAAAAAAAAAH!_ " all of the girls predictably screamed and scrambled.

"Target alive!" Karina said amongst the chaos.

"Multiple targets, repeat, multiple targets!" Ayumi noted for all as she shuffled away from the cockroaches.

"Go to Plan B!" Azusa ordered amidst the scrambling.

"What's Plan B?!" Yuuki asked in terror of the sight of multiple cockroaches.

"Everyone attacks!" Aya spontaneously claimed through the fear of multiple cockroaches. That was not at all what Plan B actually was, for the record, though it didn't stop the others from following that spontaneous plan.

Aya caught sight of one cockroach running in her direction, and she screamed, "AH!" She quickly fumbled with her vest for a pesticide grenade. "It's coming, it's coming, it's _cooooming!_ " She shakily managed to pull the pin, but soon snapped and dropped it as she chose flight over fight when the roach got too close for her liking. "I CAN'T DO THIS!" The grenade still went off as designed in the area where it was dropped, despite its thrower deciding to check out.

Through the twin-tailed blonde's sprint away from battle, she ended up colliding with Karina, which made her hat fly off.

"Gah!" Karina barked in surprise and nearly dropped the pesticide grenade she had in hand.

Yuuki was on the verge of bursting into tears as she relied on pure reflexes to stay out of the way of the cockroaches. The cockroach infestation was much worse than first predicted, and Yuuki couldn't take much more of seeing them.

"Don't back down!" Azusa yelled an order as she pulled the pin on a pesticide grenade and chucked it at a cluster of cockroaches. "Attack! We still have plenty of ammo to work with-GAH!" She screamed and twisted her body when she saw how a cockroach had literally jumped towards her. Thanks to her quick reacting, the roach simply sailed past her without making any contact.

"Shoot them! Shoot them!" Aya screamed at Karina to utilize her pesticide SMG.

Azusa was lucky to avoid the roach, but the shock factor caused her to nearly faint.

"Azusa?!" Ayumi asked, catching her before she fell to the ground. "Did it get you?! Azusa!" The taller freshman dragged the tank commander across the hangar, eventually propping her up against a crate.

"AH!" a brief shriek from Yuuki sounded.

"Just hit those things!" Aya screamed at Karina as the latter started firing her pesticide SMG. The stream of pesticide wasn't anywhere near as accurate as it could've been due to a loss of nerve. "Gah!"

"It's too quick!" Karina yelled in response to Aya, using one hand to roughly pull off her helmet and goggles.

"I can't feel my…" Azusa dizzily muttered as she rested against the crate being used as cover.

"The hell…?" was Ayumi's reaction to Azusa's dazed state. She decided to leave Azusa there and get back to the fight, figuring she just needed a moment of rest.

The young commander witnessed the rest of the freshmen continue on fighting, but a lack of coordination caused them all to fall apart in their defense. Karina stumbled and fell back after getting overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of cockroaches. Ayumi and Aya collided with each other face-to-face, the painful encounter thanks to neither of them paying attention as well as Aya's loss of nerve causing her to panic. Yuuki had lost her own nerve already and was in full panic mode.

The sight of everyone losing it snapped Azusa out of her daze, but it didn't give her any inspiration. The freshmen had failed in their mission, and Azusa was most upset about that in particular due to being reminded of the brief conversation she had with Erich before taking on her mission. She felt really down because doing the job herself had gotten her nowhere, and she was just too stubborn to ask for help. It stunk that she was effectively proven wrong in her idea that she and the freshmen of _Rabbit_ Team could do something without the more senior members of the Arts of Warfare programs having to come to their aid. All of that really brought down the young commander's morale, and she dejectedly sighed.

But she snapped to an alert status when it came to her mind that she didn't see Saki anywhere. She didn't have to go out to search for her, because upon wondering of her whereabouts, the nearly-mute freshman flew over the crate, and over Azusa herself by extension, with her balaclava, goggles, and helmet gone and armed with a rolled-up newspaper and a clipboard as she sprung into combat. Azusa was caught greatly off-guard by Saki, to put her shocked reaction into perspective.

Saki slammed the newspaper down on one cockroach, flattening it, and after shuffling quickly over to another cockroach, she slammed the clipboard down on the next one. Both roaches were easily dead, but Saki knew that there were many more that they didn't have the tools to exterminate, so she looked to all of the stunned members of _Rabbit_ Team and pointed with her newspaper to the exit.

"Saki…?" Azusa muttered in amazement, but she quickly came back to reality and noted the quiet girl's body language, and she fell back into the commander's post with ease. "Girls! Retreat!"

The rest of the freshmen quickly took heed to the order, and all six of them dashed to the hangar doors, shuffling away from errant cockroaches in the process. Saki got there first and nearly threw open one of the big hangar doors.

"Go! Go!" Azusa encouraged the rest to go ahead of her as she pulled out another pesticide grenade. She pulled the pin and threw it to the general direction of the cockroaches before turning to the door and running through it. All of the girls quickly slammed it shut behind them.

Azusa looked around and noted how each of the girls, besides Saki of course, were recovering their spent breaths, but she also noted how they were looking a bit more somber, coming to the same realization that she herself did: they failed.

"Girls?" they all heard the familiar voice of Miho Nishizumi. They all turned to the voice to find the light brunette girl herself, looking a bit concerned for them as she stepped toward them. "How did it go?" The girls all took note of how the _Panzer_ IV H, painted in its unique _Bräunlichrot_ brownish-red color, was nearby at rest. Azusa thought it fair to assume that the light brunette that she supposedly greatly resembled physically had been concerned about them and stayed back. It was just who Miho was: always looking out for her comrades.

Azusa looked at the other freshmen, noting how none of them looked ready to talk about another of their blunders, so she took it upon herself to report, as much as she didn't want to for all the shame she expected. "Um… Well…" she looked very unsure of how to word herself before finally sighing in defeat. "Sorry, captain. We couldn't get it done. There were too many of them."

Saki then handed the clipboard she had over to Miho. The light brunette raised an eyebrow in confusion before noticing that the name printed at the bottom of it was her own. She flipped the clipboard around and noticed the splatter of a cockroach on the back.

Miho raised an eyebrow, looking back to the girls and desiring to know more about what happened. "… How many were there?" she asked out of curiosity. Based off their disheveled appearances as well as the splatter on the back of her clipboard, Miho highly doubted that there was just one cockroach. That deduction mainly came from her belief that _Rabbit_ Team was truly capable of excellent things given the right parameters; she gave them the benefit of the doubt in their often-questioned abilities.

Azusa let her head hang down in shame. "I'd say hundreds, but I can't give a specific number," she responded, not daring to look at her captain. She wanted so badly to avoid the embarrassment and shame of failure that she didn't want to risk catching even a glimpse of the anticipated disappointment in Miho's face.

But a hand fell on her shoulder and by reflex got her to look to its source. Azusa wasn't surprised to find that it was Erich who had put a hand on her shoulder yet again. What she was surprised by, though, was the fact that he was wielding a _Flammenwerfer_ 35\. The blonde himself had changed into an all-black outfit including cargo pants, combat boots, full-fingered gloves, and a long-sleeve shirt.

"Didn't I tell you that it was perfectly acceptable to ask for help?" he muttered so only Azusa could hear, though he had no doubt that Miho could easily read him well-enough to get the message for herself.

Azusa blinked. "That's helping?" she asked without even thinking about her words as she let her eyes roam over the flamethrower the blonde wielded.

Erich grew a massive grin. "As a matter of fact, _yes,_ " he was sure to emphasize that this use of a flamethrower was indeed helpful. "This is the Schwarzwaldspitze method for the extermination of-"

He was cut off when Miho surged forward and smacked him upside the head with her clipboard, intentionally using the side with the cockroach splatter.

"HEY!" the blonde immediately jerked away and ruffled the back of his head with a foulness to his face. "That's _disgusting!_ And what was that even for?"

Miho shot him a glare that explained what she was thinking: ' _You're just going to make them think that our country is still Nazist if you phrase it_ _ **that**_ _way!_ '

Erich raised his eyebrows in understanding, looking over to the wide-eyed freshmen that were likely terrified of him now. "Oh, right…" he backtracked a bit. He then grinned a bit more awkwardly. "See, I say that because Schwarzwaldspitze has a _Biologieklub_ -" A few raised eyebrows met him, and he sighed. "Biology club…" Understanding dawned in those confused eyes with the translation.

The blonde then cleared his throat and continued. "Anyway, Schwarzwaldspitze's _Biologieklub_ can get quite out of hand at times with their creations." Erich then looked to Miho. "I believe their most recent creation were some zombies, real zombies, like, actual reanimated bodies and everything." He then looked back to the girls. "But they've had other creations in the past that demanded quite a bit of attention. But back to my point." He then lifted up the flamethrower's gun assembly portion with one hand by the trigger grip. "Schwarzwaldspitze used flamethrowers to corral the creatures into a containable area where they could be secured and then dealt with. Or, if deemed necessary, they just torched them immediately. And thanks to Wolf lending me his, I'm going to do the same."

"Whoa…" was all the girls could say. The freshmen all knew that their commanders came from Schwarzwaldspitze, that much was obvious, but they had never really gotten to know what the school they defeated in the finals was like from the point of view of one of its students. After learning those most recent tidbits, they found it to be not at all the extremely formal and strict place they had thought it to be. Because, if they were being honest, they couldn't think of a single other school that actually had things in it like actual zombies created by students and other students torching those same zombies with flamethrowers when those zombies got out of hand.

Miho smiled a bit when she saw the awe in _Rabbit_ Team's eyes. Even though she would perhaps remain haunted by some of her experiences from her former school, it still sent a surge of pride through her that members from her new school seemed genuinely interested in her old school.

"Well girls, I think it's time to perform the extermination of those _Kakerlaken,_ " Erich said with a grin. "Schwarzwaldspitze style." He then took his phone out and searched through it for something he thought would fit the mood. Finding it, he hit play, hearing the stringed lullaby and the distinctive sound of a UH-1's two-bladed rotor spinning as the opening of the track. "Would you mind opening the doors, by chance?"

"Of course," Miho responded with a smile, leaving the blonde's side with a brief kiss on the cheek before walking to the hangar doors. The freshmen of _Rabbit_ Team fell into stride with the light brunette, and the seven of them all began to swing open the two hangar doors. During that time, the track being played on Erich's phone had some electric guitars kick up, soon joined by some drums and a bit more aggressive guitar playing.

Upon the hangars being exposed to the light, Erich grew a dastardly grin. "I'm gonna have a _lot_ of fun here," he said to himself as he strode forward, with the track's first stanza opening as appropriate theme music.

" _Sent from home  
Overseas and into the unknown_

 _Barely landed in the jungle  
Sent on first patrol_

 _Sun down  
Darkness falls  
Dig in for the night_

 _Ambush in the dawn they came  
The jungle's alive_"

He came to a stop at the doorway, and upon aiming the _Flammenwerfer_ in the general direction of the small crawling creatures that seemed to never die, the blonde unleashed waves and waves of pure fire into the hangar.

" _I feeeeel!  
My fire starts to burn_

 _The heeeeeat!  
Controlling my mind!_

 _Berseeeeerk!  
A savage running wild_"

Oh, yes. Erich would have a _lot_ of fun wielding a flamethrower against an intrusion of cockroaches that were, ironically, intruding upon Ooarai's hangars.

" _Within me the beast starts to roar  
Now I'm ready to strike_"

Erich chuckled in amusement, thinking of the irony in how a group of cockroaches was, by proper grammar, known as an intrusion of cockroaches. Time for them to face an intrusion for themselves, a rather heated intrusion.

" _A creature of the night_ "

The blonde continued unleashing scorching jets of flames and had his fun with the time he had with a flamethrower. Because, if he had to be honest, who _wouldn't_ want a chance to use a flamethrower?

" _Into the fire_ "

If the hangars all burned down, then oh well, he thought. Hopefully insurance would cover the damages. And if _that_ didn't work out, then maybe he could delve into his very generous family savings to cover the costs, though he could already hear the scolding his brother would give him if he went down that route.

" _The flame of napalm strike_ "

But at least there won't be any more cockroaches! Because they all went Into the Fire. He snorted again in amusement at his own mental pun.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	119. Kapitel 25,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Fünfundzwanzig: Ein Blick auf Ooarai**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Ein Pazifikkrieg**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was that time of the year again. It was the twilight of a new season of the International High School Arts of Warfare Tournament. That meant it was time to draw for the tournament bracket to determine who took on who for the first round, as well as to allow for future planning with regards to who stood the best chances at advancing.

As was tradition, the tournament drawing took place in Zürich, Switzerland. Specifically, it was held in the Opernhaus Zürich, a long-standing and world-class opera house looking over the Sechseläutenplatz and next to the waterfront of the Zürichsee.

The competitor listings this year were quite diverse. There was an entry from seemingly all corners of the world, from Scandinavia to Australia and the Americas, though the great majority of entries still came from Europe. All corners of Europe held a spot in the tournament this year, from Scandinavia again to Eastern Europe and all throughout Central and Western Europe.

Also returning to the tournament this year were some of the big-name teams that _everyone_ knew about: Saunders High School from America, Saint Gloriana High School of Britain, as well as the reigning champs, Pravda Srednyaya Shkola of Russia, were back. The other teams didn't quite see Pravda as the reigning champs, however, as it was common knowledge by now that something outside of their control had happened to influence last season's victory in their favor. And to put it shortly, Pravda felt the pang from that.

Everyone drew silent out of begrudging respect when a certain black-haired ultra-ace strutted her way up to the stage with an air of untouchable power to perform her school's drawing. Isabel-Justina Hartmann's familiar, naturally intimidating demeanor served as a reminder that Germany's best, Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium, was also back, and most likely they were looking to avenge themselves from last season's loss.

But everyone drew silent a second time, this time out of surprise, when a vaguely familiar blonde strode to the stage when it was time for a new entry to draw. Though the school was nothing special – bearing the name of Ooarai High School, a school with a multinational student base and predominantly Japanese funding – the face of that girl was extremely familiar. It was so familiar because it was the exact same face that Isabel possessed, only filled with blue eyes and adorned with identically-styled blonde hair. It was a great surprise when Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann strode to the stage with all the confidence, and indirect intimidation, that her elder sister did, while wearing the white and green uniform of Ooarai.

It took a concentrated effort for Erika to not shiver, because though she couldn't make her out amongst everyone else in the opera, she could feel how Isabel was watching her. As much as the blonde wanted to detest her sister now after what happened in Russia last season, that instinct to cower under the Black Demoness' powerful stare remained.

 _(Send her over the waves  
Our sentinel)_

Much later in the vast Pacific, Erika took it upon herself to head up into the air alone with her steed as Ooarai's _Staffelkapitän,_ a Bf 109 E-4. The _Messer_ was painted in a camouflage with a forest green topside and a sky blue underside, and, out of personal preference, the blonde decorated the nose with a black tulip. On the tailfin was an insignia of a silver knife canted at the same angle as the leading edge of the fin, effectively parallel with it, with the black handle at the top.

The emblem was present due to the callsign for her being _Messer-Ein._ She had picked the callsign for sentimental reasons, choosing it because of the knife Manfred Nishizumi had gifted to her for her most recent birthday, the same day her life, in her eyes, fell apart. She looked down with an angered sneer on her face, silently berating herself for daring to think about what happened that day.

 _(She reports in the news)  
Position of our foes!_

Back to why she was up in the air, it was to perform a patrol of the waves for any sight of their adversaries' school ship. She spotted it soon enough, and really, it was difficult to miss, even from a couple dozen miles out. The _USS George Washington_ was one of the largest of the school ships commonly seen amongst the main players in the Arts of Warfare, no surprise at all considering how it was almost expected for the Americans to be so pompous.

For all that it was worth, Erika had been waiting to unleash the pent-up anger she had held back onto Saunders. She wasn't mad at them exactly; she just sorely needed an outlet for her recently-harvested hatred of Isabel and for how belittled and broken she made her feel. And Erika really didn't want to use her new team for that. After all, none of them had any prior experience in combat, so it would just be extremely unfair to them to suffer the blonde's wrath.

 _This battlefield's been chosen!  
Tactically in advance!_

But that time would come soon enough, because the date to battle Saunders High School, the school that embodied the American personality in the most perfect and adoring way, was near. The battlefield encompassed the North Shore area and the other surrounding areas on Oahu Island, the home to the capital of Hawaii. It was a unique first-time experience for Erika, and she would argue for Manfred as well, because the officials had chosen to notify them of the battleground immediately. It took a bit of time to comprehend that, as they were used to charging through hostile land to get to the battlefield after their experiences from Schwarzwaldspitze. This time around, no such pre-match battle would be waged, considering it was kind of an unspoken rule amongst the large schools that they would be merciful to smaller schools like Ooarai.

 _Time to alert our fighters!  
We're soon in range!_

"It's nearly time," Erika began simply later on with the relatively small number of students that comprised Ooarai's Arts of Warfare programs before her for a final pep-talk, if it could be called that. To her _Jagdstaffel,_ Erika looked downright scary with how intimidating she looked. "Just remember what you learned these last several weeks, and you'll be fine." Erika had grown into a rather hostile person after leaving Schwarzwaldspitze, but she wasn't so short-sighted as to drag her new comrades into her past. She had a duty to uphold, and she would do it, even if it meant pushing her emotions to the side.

 _Saunders!_

It was a bit contradictory due to how intimidating her face was, almost always set in a pissed-off downturn of her lips, but Erika did honestly try her best to not direct her hatred onto her new comrades. Unfortunately, and worse for her even if she would never admit to it, that resulted in her being quite stand-offish with Manfred after he practically poofed back into her life when he also came to Ooarai, choosing to direct that hatred onto him in a sense even though he had done nothing to deserve it.

The light brunette nudged her with a glare telling her to cool off, but Erika waved a hand back towards him in an effort to smack his arm away in rebellion, glaring back and practically daring him to tell her to chill out. Suffice to say Manfred backed down first, and it stung. If there was one thing about Erika that _hadn't_ changed since Schwarzwaldspitze, it was that she always had a far stronger will than he did. It stung to the light brunette that his lifelong companion, and long-time crush, was now trying to push him away so fiercely with that incredibly strong will.

He could still recall that look of pure horror on her face when they laid eyes on each other again in Ooarai's Student Council office. It was like she had seen a ghost, and that was somewhat true: Erika was so dead-set on trying to put the past behind her that she just didn't know what to do when she saw him, someone so intricately linked to her recent past of extreme turmoil. Manfred hated that she had mentally suffered so much as to reduce her to that state.

 _We'll take on Saunders!_

"Bah, don't worry. We can destroy them with just one of us!" Kelly confidently boasted in response to an inquiry during a briefing of Saunders' Arts of Warfare programs. The proud blond-haired, blue-eyed, and pure American was the Captain of the Tank Battalion this year, being unanimously picked for the spot after his impressive leadership was demonstrated the previous season against Schwarzwaldspitze at Bastogne. Even though the Americans had lost that fight, they held on a lot longer than they should have.

"But don't they have that younger Hartmann girl on their side? You know, one of the German aces from Bastogne?" one person innocently asked. The person in question was most likely a rookie, but that reminder chilled Charlotte to the bone. The burgundy-haired American was there for the tournament drawing, originally because she wanted to get social with all of the other aces from around the world, and maybe also to brag about how she was picked to lead Saunders' Fighter Wing this year. But while there, she had also witnessed alongside everyone else how Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann, the younger sister of Isabel-Justina Hartmann, had drawn for the new entry, Ooarai High School.

 _Aerial war!_

Even if Ooarai was a no-name school with a lack of experience and equipment, Charlotte was not so keen as to immediately dismiss them as opponents, solely for the reason that Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann was one of the pilots of their _Jagdstaffel._ The burgundy-haired teen remembered with clarity just how skilled the blonde German ultra-ace was. As skilled as Charlotte was, she had eventually been shot down at the hand of Erika during the battle at Bastogne last season. It was easy to see why she was more on the side of caution than the rest of Saunders' Fighter Wing, as the idea of fighting Erika again struck closer to home for her than anyone else.

 _(Calling all hands to deck  
Got to be airborne)_

"Come on! Up and at it!" Erika broadcasted her voice across the land just outside of Ooarai's hangars. The _Jagdstaffel_ was in the process of prepping for battle, as it was now time to enter the fight, and Erika was holding no qualms with sounding ruthless in her beckoning to hurry up. As long as it would get everyone focused, her tone would do. Both fighter squadrons, it was decided, would start from their respective carriers, both equally distant from the battlefield, due to the fact that Oahu was such a small island: fighters flying at top speed could fly across the entirety of the island in little more than two minutes.

Erika took a moment to close her eyes and breathe while she sat in her Bf 109 E-4's cockpit as she waited for everything to be prepared. She was anticipating this moment, the moment where she could finally unleash herself onto a deserving opponent and slaughter them all.

 _(Head out into the sun)  
Descending on our foes!_

Out of the sun flashed two German fighters decorated with the unique blue-bordered, five-legged _Balkenkreuz_ markings that belonged to Ooarai. Charlotte and a few other P-38s belonging to Saunders turned to try and meet the attacking pair of German fighters, but the burgundy-haired Wing Commander had issued the command to engage a little too late, as one of the German fighters, an Fw 190 A-4 with a tailfin emblem of a white and brown shrike with wings extended and appearing as if in a roll, swept past and tore apart one of the American P-38s effortlessly. That caught Charlotte by surprise, and she at first thought that Erika was the 190's pilot judging by the accuracy of its fire, but that was yet another small mistake she made.

 _This is the crucial moment!  
In the heat of battle!_

"Dammit!" Charlotte cursed when a Bf 109 with Ooarai's markings and the distinct black tulip nose zoomed past her, quickly disposing of one of her comrades with the minimum number of shots necessary. The burgundy-haired American had underestimated Ooarai's abilities more than she had thought. Though it was her plan to take down Erika first, that no longer seemed feasible when she had a clearly talented wingman tethered to her. "Oh, fuck you and your black tulip ass," Charlotte muttered as she kept an eye on Erika, praising and simultaneously cursing the blonde's unpredictability that had thrown her Fighter Wing for a loop. The rest of Saunders now were made crisply aware of Ooarai being an actual threat to them, as much of a shocker as it was.

 _To fly and hit our targets!  
Further below!_

"Let's get the rest of them, Erika. _Was sagst du?_ " the Fw 190's pilot suggested with a confident smirk in place as she climbed away from the engagement. Otherwise known as Anna Novat, this Bavarian girl hailing from Munich had a natural talent for aerial combat despite having no prior experience, and was also a part of the Ooarai Student Council. She had some light brown hair hanging down to the middle of her back in a low-hanging ponytail along with brown eyes in a darker shade than her hair color, and was very similar to Erika in terms of height and body structure. Anna held a measurable respect for Erika already: considering the blonde was able to see through her intentions to manipulate her into joining Ooarai's fledgling _Jagdstaffel,_ it was surprising to Anna that Erika still decided to join even after calling her out on her manipulating.

 _Saunders!  
(Display their might!  
Ordering Jagdstaffeln!  
Captains waging war!)_

"Don't get too cocky," Erika warned the Student Council's Chief Advisor before redirecting her focus to scan the skies and get up to speed on the situation. The air battle had found itself over the water to the north of the battlefield, but to the advantage of the two German fighters of Ooarai, it was at relatively low altitude. That was a domain that both the Bf 109E and especially the Fw 190A excelled in compared to the more high-altitude-oriented P-38s of Saunders, and with Erika's vast experience and the natural talent of Anna, the two were making good progress on downing their opponents one by one.

Even though Ooarai was outnumbered two-to-one both on the ground and in the air, thanks to the gentleman's agreement all of the large schools shared with each other to go easy on smaller schools, Saunders only had ten fighters total at the start, which provided a relief for Erika. Knowing that she didn't have to hold off literal dozens of American fighters as was the case when she fought them in Bastogne was a welcome relief for her, since Ooarai had only five fighters to oppose Saunders in the air, and only five tanks to utilize on the ground.

 _We'll take on Saunders!  
(To win the fight!  
Tactics are crucial!)_

The low numbers meant that victory would be achieved by whoever was the most cunning, and Erika's experience with the Americans showed them to be anything but. As an American school, Saunders had a notably larger budget than most other schools, with Schwarzwaldspitze being the only one to have a similarly large budget, yet the American role-model school hadn't even bothered to upgrade their arsenal that much over the break. They used the same P-38Fs and P-63s as they did last year, though only one of their P-63s was brought out this time thanks to the obligation to reduce their numbers against Ooarai. The only upgrade to their aerial arsenal was that they had modified at least one of their numerous P-38Fs into a P-38M _Night Lightning._

 _Aerial war!_

Saunders was just stubborn like that, preferring the humble but unimpressive M4 _Shermans_ and P-38 _Lightnings_ over whatever else they could buy. Though their pilots were rather aggressive, Erika noted how they were short-sighted, how they were prone to undergo improvisation. With that knowledge, the blonde German ultra-ace knew that it would be easy enough to manipulate Saunders to her will. After all, they had already fallen to trying to take her on at lower altitudes, a domain that the American P-38s were no better within than the German fighters, if not inferior. So of course they would fall for other tricks up her sleeve.

 _Far from shore!  
A Pacific war!  
Bombs are falling from the skies_

Down on the ground, Ooarai's five tanks had done a good job of eluding Saunders' tanks using the various terrain to their advantage. Unlike in the air, it was a lot harder for Ooarai to take on Saunders in a heads-up fight on the ground.

For that reason, Erika saw fit to assign the other three fighters available to her to assist with the ground war. There was a Ki-10-II decorated with a tailfin decal depicting in gray a cyclone swirl that normally would be useless for any role, but it was still providing a very useful purpose via providing aerial reconnaissance on Saunders' armor.

Then there was an F4F-3, adorned with a tailfin emblem of a pouncing silver-furred wildcat, laden with a couple of 100 lb bombs, one under each wing, that dove to the ground to dive-bomb one of Saunders' _Shermans._ The cylindrical bombs struck on the mark and took out the M4, leaving the other American tanks to focus on defending themselves from the air attack, as useless as the effort was.

 _It's a bomb run day!  
It's the ground pound way!  
A blood red sun is on the rise_

And the last in the trio of fighters assigned to assist in the ground war announced itself with a resounding boom of its massive cannon. The shot fired by the massive gun hit its mark, another _Sherman,_ and took it down as the twin-engine fighter wielding the gun stormed above the battlefield.

Ooarai's Me 410 A-1/U4 presented a very unique foe to Saunders, because even though it was a twin-engine fighter, it had decidedly greater survivability than the American P-38 thanks to its _fernbediente seitliche Lafetten_ rear defensive turrets, a respectable amount of armor protecting the plane from the front, effective air brakes and good acceleration that combined made it easy to manipulate energy, and effective armament. It held two 20 mm MG 151/20s, cannons that were among the best in their caliber for use against air targets, and a single 50 mm BK 5, a gun that one absolutely did _not_ want to be on the receiving end of, especially if the target was an aircraft, as the explosive shell for the gun would pulverize any plane with a single shot and send it to the ground. Against tanks, it was just as useful, its armor-piercing shells being more than capable enough to cripple armor. As its tailfin emblem of a buzzing hornet depicted, the _Hornisse_ could sting, and very hard at that.

"Thanks for that, _Hornisse-Vier,_ " Manfred Nishizumi gave the Me 410's pilot a word of gratitude as it flew away to await another order for an airstrike. The light brunette _Panzer_ commander then started ordering his fellow tank crew members. "Haru, get the one nearest with its side exposed."

"Sighted," the black-haired and tall gunner reported back as he aimed the gunsight onto the specified _Sherman._ Haru Isuzu was much like a gentle giant: though he was not extremely buff to fit a giant's physical profile, he was tall, and he did have a calm, gentle demeanor most of the time. Oftentimes, he liked to dabble as an artist in his free time. And, as he fired the cannon and watched the shot plunge into the thin side armor of the M4 he targeted, he was a very proficient gunner.

The _Panzerkampfwagen_ IV _Ausführung_ D that took down the _Sherman_ from within the woods held a _Panzergrau_ paint job, with a rather humorous addition to either side of its turret: a pink anglerfish that one of the crew members randomly suggested be their callsign. Upon seeing the decal at first, Manfred grew extremely embarrassed from just how… _different_ it was. Well, it was also because Erika was right there with him to see it for the first time, and the blonde had actually cracked up from the sight of it. It was an embarrassing occasion for the light brunette, but it was worth it to see Erika genuinely smile again, even if it was for but a minute before her new normal expression, a pissed frown, took over again.

Another cannon boomed from within some more trees nearby, and its shot pulverized another _Sherman._ However, this time, the M4 was easily taken down from the front. The _Sturmgeschütz_ III _Ausführung_ F that Ooarai had available to it was certainly capable of disposing of the American tank, its powerful 7,5 cm StuK 40 L/43 wholly capable of the job. Also in the _Panzergrau_ paint job, the German assault gun had an emblem of a hippo showing off its behind painted onto the side of its superstructure.

As the battle raged on, Manfred noted how Saunders was starting to reorganize itself on the ground. That wouldn't do for Ooarai, as they would no longer have the advantage of surprise if Saunders was allowed to conduct an organized attack. "Retreat," he calmly ordered his small _Panzerzug._ "We'll find another opportunity."

" _Incoming!_ " he heard the voice of Veronica, oftentimes nicknamed Ron for short, forewarn him. Though saddled with flying the pathetic Ki-10, she took to her role of recon without question. The American captain of the school's recently axed badminton club knew a thing or two about following orders. " _Two Lightnings coming for you, loaded up!_ "

 _Far from shore!  
A Pacific war!  
Bombs are falling from the skies_

As foretold, two of Saunders' P-38s soon entered the fray loaded up with one 500 lb bomb under each wing. The two American fighters, one P-38M and one P-38F, both dived down in the vague direction of Ooarai's tanks and dropped their bombs.

With a resounding quadruple boom, the bombs struck. Luckily for Ooarai, the bombs had not struck close enough to cripple any of them, though Manfred knew that the all-ninth-grader crew of the school's M3 _Lee_ would likely lose their nerve from it. He shook his head at the thought. He made a note to get that crew to improve its resilience and not flinch every time they heard a gun fire.

 _It's a bomb run day!  
It's the ground pound way!  
A blood red sun is on the rise_

Up in the air, the P-38M and P-38F that had previously dive-bombed the Ooarai tanks now chased after Erika's Bf 109E and Anna's Fw 190A, both loaded with external armament that they were just about to release onto the _Shermans._ The 109 had a single 250 kg SC 250 bomb under the fuselage, while the 190 had a single 500 kg SC 500 bomb under the fuselage in addition to a pair of 210 mm _Werfer-Granate_ 21 rocket-propelled mortars under the wings.

The Saunders P-38s were too late to stop the two German fighters from dropping their ordnance, the German munitions blowing up and taking out a couple of American tanks in a spectacular fireworks show. It filled the Japanese-descended students of Ooarai, which were rather high in number since the school was first built as a Japanese school, with a sense of pride that their school was doing so well. The red rising sun was rising high above all.

The Fw 190 then immediately jettisoned the launch tubes for the _Werfer-Granate_ 21 rockets via the explosive charges fitted to the launch tube supports, as there were no plans in place to rearm with more of them this late into the fight. Jettisoning them allowed for the aerodynamic drag provided by them to be removed from the plane, which was a self-explanatory advantage for an aircraft.

 _Saunders!  
(Display their might!  
Ordering Jagdstaffeln!  
Captains waging war!)_

"Rachel, cover me! That's her!" Charlotte immediately ordered the P-38M's pilot to be her wingman. The blue-eyed Wing Commander decided that in order to achieve victory, Erika had to be taken down no matter the cost. She was the key to Ooarai's survival for so long against Saunders, and without her, Charlotte believed Ooarai would fall easily.

" _Charlotte, we need your fucking help down here! That plane with a tank cannon is killing us all!_ " she heard Captain Kelly's voice practically demand for her to take down the enemy Me 410 laying waste with its massive gun. The burgundy-haired grunted in mounting frustration, because Erika had picked that moment to engage her, forcing her to divert her attention to take out the biggest threat to her.

 _We'll take on Saunders!  
(To win the fight!  
Tactics are crucial!)_

But Kelly wasn't exaggerating all that much in his report. The Me 410 A-1/U4 was indeed giving the Americans a hard time. Already, three tanks had fallen to the _Pulkzerstörer_ after its most recent strafe claimed another. That was a very useful attribute of the Me 410 A-1/U4 in particular: its ability to take down armor with one of its main guns made it a very useful attacker considering it could simply aim and fire rather than having to expose itself in order to dive-bomb or use wildly inaccurate rockets.

And its pilot knew that as well. With long deep red hair falling to her mid-back in a graceful silky wave and eyes that held a similar shade of red, she was known as Wolf to her band of friends. The graceful yet also extremely confident girl was a history buff, with her focus on German history and her being closest in character to Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, the German World War Two fighter ace. As such, the soul name of Wolf was bestowed upon her.

 _Aerial war!_

Anna was easily able to compete with the P-38M thanks to her Fw 190's more comparable performance to the late-war _Lightning_ at lower altitudes. That made it easy for the Bavarian girl to maneuver into a position where she could take down the P-38. Within a couple of turns, the 190 was able to get on the _Night Lightning's_ tail, and it was simple point and fire for Anna after that. She fired a burst from her guns, and the end result was the P-38M being set ablaze and having a chunk taken off its left wing, forcing it to lose control of itself.

 _Saunders!  
(Display their might!  
Ordering Jagdstaffeln!  
Captains waging war!)_

" _Fucking FUCK!_ " Charlotte heard her comrade Rachel cry out over the radio, and with a brief glance she caught the P-38M as it tumbled through the air with no control whatsoever while on fire.

"Shit!" the burgundy-haired American cursed when Erika's Bf 109 closed for another attack from her left front, forcing her to jerk the controls in evasive action and bring her attention back to the fight. As the _Messer_ passed her by, Charlotte pulled up on her P-38F's control yoke and flicked her flap switch to the combat setting to vertically double back after the 109.

 _We'll take on Saunders!  
(To win the fight!  
Tactics are crucial!)_

With flaps deployed in the combat position, Charlotte was able to turn as tightly as Erika's 109 could, but the blond-haired German ultra-ace wasn't one to fall for such a trick. The two ended up catching each other in a head-on pass, but Erika chose not to engage and instead tried to spoil Charlotte's gunfire. It was a smart move, considering the P-38 was one of the best fighters out there for head-on attacks with its heavy and centerline-mounted armament.

 _Aerial war!_

" _You need some help, Erika?_ " Erika heard Anna offer over the radio. The Bavarian herself was further away, heading back towards the blonde Swabian after shooting down the P-38M.

"No, I've got this," Erika responded, fully confident in her abilities to down Charlotte. She had done it before, so she was sure she could do it again, even with the lower-performance 109 she flew this time. It was only a matter of time, but soon enough Erika was able to deplete Charlotte's energy enough to where she held the advantage. The 109 didn't lose energy as easily as a P-38 did, especially in the vertical maneuvers that Erika knew from vast experience were best for energy conservation.

 _Saunders!_

The time soon came where Erika was able to get into an adequate position to fire at Charlotte, and she did so, unleashing the firepower of her Bf 109 E-4. The rounds impacted and set the P-38F ablaze, something _Lightnings_ had a rather common habit of doing when shot at.

Charlotte's and Erika's dogfight with each other had captivated the entirety of the spectators due to both of them being the commanders of each side's aviation arm. It was certainly captivating, Isabel-Justina Hartmann could agree to that as she stood in the fields watching the battle from afar. The black-haired German ultra-ace betrayed nothing with her body language, but it was still obvious that she held a much bigger interest in this fight than even that of her own team's upcoming fight, a much more _personal_ interest.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 ** _The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to_** **Actas.** ** _The music belongs to_** **Sabaton.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	120. Kapitel 26,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Sechundzwanzig: Besuche**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Ein Besuch von fräulein Darjeeling!**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was yet another day that had begun aboard the _HMS Ark Royal_ that housed Saint Gloriana High School. And from the looks of it, it was fit to be a day adorned with pure, unadulterated Britishness.

Because, after all, rainy days were a quintessentially British thing, as was driving on the wrong side of the road, on the left-hand side versus the right-hand side. It was called the 'right' side for a reason, but that reason was mysteriously lost upon the British.

Hence, because of the typically-British weather being experienced, a particular handful of members of Saint Gloriana's Arts of Warfare programs ate breakfast together indoors. Each had a full English breakfast at their disposal, the one high-point in the day so far thanks to the dreary weather.

The table used to break the fast was only seating four people at the present moment: Arthur, the English Spitfire ace; Douglas, a Scottish mate serving directly under Arthur by way of helping to get his Spitfire up in the air; Assam, the resident intelligence gatherer and the gunner of the school's Churchill; and Orange Pekoe, the petite yet deceptively strong loader for the British heavy tank.

"So…" Assam began as she twirled a sausage in her hand with her head resting against her other hand propped up on the table. Arthur tried to keep a straight face as a number of lewd quips about her actions with the sausage came to his mind. But Assam looked in his direction and grew a knowing and smug grin that convened she could already tell the Englishman's thoughts before they even left his mouth. She chose not to call him out on such dirtiness, however, for the sake of maintaining the proper image so ingrained into her from her time in Saint Gloriana. "I can't help but notice that besides Darjeeling, we're notably missing one of our own from this setting. Pray tell, where's your little servant, Arthur?"

Douglas set his fork down quickly, and perhaps a little forcefully, and flung his hands up into the air in a fed-up gesture, followed by a shaking of his head as he brought one of his hands to his forehead. The comment about being a servant to Arthur annoyed the Scotsman, even though it was not meant for him. The idea of being one of Arthur's servants ticked him off every time it was brought up due to preconceptions of the English seeing themselves superior to the other people of the United Kingdom. Being Scottish, Douglas easily fell back into despising the English members of the British school whenever those preconceptions were brought up again, and he knew that Dennis, as a Northern Irishman, felt the same, even if he was better at concealing it.

Arthur, however, remained blissfully unaware of his Scottish comrade as he smiled his usual upper-class smile. "Alas, I don't believe he may grace us with his presence this day," he responded.

"Oh?" Orange Pekoe tilted her head in curiosity. "Why is that?"

"What is what?" the group heard Darjeeling's voice join in. The Englishwoman herself took a seat at the table with her own full English breakfast, fully tuned into the conversation.

"Dennis won't be joining us today because he's come down sick," Arthur divulged with ease. "A rather nasty case, I must say, considering he was told that he had to take the day off."

"Huh," Assam huffed in comprehension before she consumed the sausage she was twirling in her hand before. She then spoke up again to finish her thoughts. "Well what do you know…"

"Aw, that's too bad…" Orange Pekoe kindly gave her condolences.

"MMM!" Darjeeling muffled a cry of epiphany as she began to shuffle through her bag lying against her chair's leg. The cry was muffled due to her having food in her mouth, and it was rude for a lady to talk with her mouth full. She swallowed before responding again. "I've got just the thing for an affair as serious as this!"

As the Churchill commander shuffled through her bag, the others stared at her, occasionally shooting each other raised eyebrows of confusion. Whatever it was that Darjeeling was up to, it was destined to be something they wouldn't forget, solely because it was Darjeeling.

"Ah! There they are!" the Englishwoman said in triumph as she rose again, this time holding a couple of nurse outfits and a red cross hat. "Now which one of these would be best for nursing Dennis?" The glint in Darjeeling's eye said she was going to very much enjoy this while she could.

Douglas slammed his head on the table and left it there, unwilling to look at the insane Englishwoman any longer. Arthur kept a blank face as he mentally checked out. Assam and Orange Pekoe awkwardly looked at each other as they held a silent conversation debating Darjeeling's sanity, or lack thereof.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later in the day, up in his flat, Dennis sneezed violently, sending the thermometer in his mouth out like it was a projectile. The Northern Irishman groaned in a sickly manner and made the great effort to get out of bed to find the thermometer.

"Why me…" he grumbled as he bent down to pick up the thermometer. The digital screen on it read 38 degrees Celsius, and Dennis grumbled in irritation at it before tossing it aside and walking back to bed. "It figures that I'd be the one to come down with something and have to miss training."

As he collapsed back onto the mattress, he continued vocalizing his thoughts, "But at least I can stay away from Darjeeling in that regard, so I guess being sick's not _all_ bad…" He put his hands behind his head and began to nod off. "It's not like she has enough free time to visit, anyway…"

A few seconds passed before Dennis's eyes shot back open as he came to a realization: Arthur would've more than likely already divulged that the Northern Irishman had fallen sick, and if Darjeeling was there to hear it, then it was practically guaranteed that she would drag them all to visit him.

He climbed up out of bed and went over to the window overlooking the street just to see if that was the case, and lo and behold, it was: Darjeeling, Assam, Orange Pekoe, Arthur, and Douglas were all walking in the direction of the doorway to the dormitory building, with the Churchill commander leading the way with quite a bit of pep in her step.

' _Oh, joy…_ ' Dennis thought sarcastically as he flopped back onto his bed. ' _I get to spend the day with an insane, aristocratic, and clingy Englishwoman, another Englishwoman that fancies herself as a new 007, another Englishwoman whose great kindness wouldn't be enough to counter her master's ludicrousness, an aristocratic Englishman that I want to see thrown about like a ragdoll to wipe the smugness from him, and a Scotsman that would just as soon make that wish come true… Fuck my life._ '

About half a minute later, his door burst open unceremoniously to make way for the 'visitors' he was expecting.

"Dennis! How do you do, old chap?" Arthur greeted with all the flare he could as he and the other Brits piled into Dennis' flat. It was made obvious that only Arthur and Darjeeling were of such mindsets: the others – Assam, Orange Pekoe, and Douglas – were all notably less enthusiastic about the visit as they shook their heads in exasperation at Arthur and Darjeeling.

"Heeeeey…" Dennis groaned a response as he lifted up an arm to acknowledge them without actually having to get up from his bed. He then let said arm flop back down.

"By the Queen, you poor thing!" Darjeeling observed the Northern Irishman with sympathy as she set her bag down. "This must be horrible for you, Dennis!"

Knowing that he wasn't pointedly ignoring him like he was for Darjeeling, Douglas shot Dennis a look saying, ' _This was not my idea in the_ _ **least**_ _bit, so don't even think of trying to blame me._ '

The Northern Irishman shot a return look saying, ' _No shit, Sherlock, I can bloody tell!_ '

During this time, Orange Pekoe came up to Dennis' bedside. "Here, this will help a bit," she lifted her hand that held a wet towel the petite loader had somehow prepared when no one was looking. She then set it on the Northern Irishman's forehead.

The effect was near-instantaneous judging by the relieved moan Dennis let out. "Thanks for that…" he gave his thanks to Orange Pekoe, who took it with a graceful nod.

Almost immediately after, a large thump was heard at the door, and accompanying that thump was a flurry of voices that all collectively resembled cries of "Lady Darjeeling!"

Everyone within the flat looked toward Darjeeling, some in confusion and others, like Dennis and Douglas, with annoyance. Their irritation in the blonde Englishwoman was always high, but this was ridiculous.

"Ah, that's not good," the Churchill commander noted, oblivious to the looks of annoyance. She lifted a finger. "Please give me a moment."

She then began to walk over to the door, but not before Douglas snapped and broke to the door in a sprint. He flung it open and yelled, " _GET THE BLOODY FUCK OUTTA HERE!_ "

"Gah!" That was enough to cause everyone behind the door, which was a sizable number of Darjeeling's followers, to instantly scram. "Okay, okay, I get it!" Because nobody there wanted to be on the receiving end of an enraged Scotsman. "That's not gone well!"

Satisfied, Douglas held his hand out to Darjeeling without even looking at where she was behind him, knowing she had a slip of paper saying 'NO VISITORS' that would be of use to them all. Darjeeling handed it over, ignorant as to what he just did to chase off her followers, and Douglas taped it to the front of the door before flipping it shut and walking back with his chin held high.

"Aaaaand we're good," Douglas informed everybody else. Dennis gave a thumbs-up while Assam looked down to hide an amused grin and Orange Pekoe looked on as she shook her head at the Scotsman's antics. Arthur simply smiled as if nothing had happened, while Darjeeling remained oblivious.

"Now, Orange Pekoe, I could really use your help for this!" Darjeeling insisted to the ginger-haired Englishwoman as she reached into her bag. She then pulled out a couple of outfits, and after sorting through them, pulled out the first one, which was a modern-day nurse's outfit. "Should I go with modern…" She then held up another more elaborate outfit that was still recognizable as a nurse's outfit, though it was notably older in style. "Classic British style…" She then held up one last outfit, which was even more antique in style than the classic British nurse outfit. "Or Asgardian royal palace healer?"

"Where did you even get that last one…?" Assam muttered in confusion at the unconventional and completely unexpected Viking-era outfit. "And more importantly, _why…_ "

"Well?!" Darjeeling eagerly awaited an answer from Orange Pekoe. "With which outfit should I nurse?!"

"Er…" Orange Pekoe stumbled over trying to find something to say that wasn't offensive yet got her point across. "… I think it's more the thought that counts."

That didn't satisfy Darjeeling, who scoffed in disappointment at Orange Pekoe's indecision and turned to Dennis himself. "Dennis, what say you?" she asked, holding up her outfits again. "Don't hold back!"

"It's not about holding back…" the Northern Irishman muttered. Dennis knew Darjeeling would simply choose which one to wear if he said nothing, so he decided to humor her. "I personally think you're just fine the way you are now."

Darjeeling dropped her outfits as well as her jaw, before she grinned excitedly. "Brilliant!" she commended. "This is why I would've missed you had we not visited: your judgment is absolutely brilliant!"

Orange Pekoe politely smiled at Darjeeling's giddiness, while Assam made a show of using one of her fingers to make fake gagging motions at how easily the Churchill commander became infatuated with something. Douglas absently wondered if he could slip out and go home to escape the madness that was the six-strong group of Saint Gloriana's most elite warriors, while Arthur smiled that same smile again as if nothing had happened.

Everyone was pulled from their thoughts by the clock in the corner going off, and out of instinct they looked to it. It was four in the evening by now, as the clock showed.

"Blimey, it's that time again!" Darjeeling noted with a grin. "It's tea time!"

And because they were all British, that meant _everything_ stopped for tea time. Within a handful of minutes, everyone present was set up at the table sipping some tea in an annoyingly elegant manner.

"So, I found out an interesting tidbit of news recently," Douglas began as everyone drank their tea. "You all know Ooarai, right?"

A round of affirmative mmm-hmms went around. "Of course," Arthur and Orange Pekoe both acknowledged verbally.

"Well, from what I heard over their news network, apparently they nearly suffered a fire in one of their hangars," the Scotsman divulged.

"A fire?" all three girls asked in surprise. Darjeeling set her teacup down to pay her full attention to the news Douglas relayed.

"Yup," the Scotsman nodded.

"How did that come about?" Arthur asked without a trace of surprise on his face.

Douglas smirked in amusement. "Cockroach infestation," he revealed, and he then crossed his arms to watch the mayhem unfold.

Everyone remained silent and blinked once, twice, thrice, before Assam spoke up with bewilderment in her voice, "A _cockroach infestation?_ "

"I kid you not," Douglas chuckled at the utterly stupefied looks on everyone's faces, including Arthur's, who normally wasn't fazed by much of anything.

" _How?_ " the English Spitfire pilot himself leaned forward to ask, still disbelieving.

"Haha, alright," Douglas chuckled before he shook his head to refocus on retelling his tale. "Well, Arthur, you know their Squadron Leader?"

Arthur nodded. "Yeah, what about Erich?" he returned.

"And you are also aware of Black Forest Peak's Biology Club, right?" the Scotsman continued. The German school's Biology Club had at times been on the front page of the news because of some of their creations getting out of hand, with the most recent occasion being about a year ago when the zombies they had created ran amok.

Arthur remembered seeing that occasion in particular on the news, and his brain started turning. "Yeeeees…" he slowly replied as he tried to make sense of what Douglas was implying.

The Scotsman grinned amusedly again. "Well, let's just say that Erich adopted Black Forest Peak's method of extermination," he continued. He then looked around to watch as understanding started to dawn on everyone.

Arthur thought a bit before he smiled again as if nothing had ever happened. Soon enough, Assam also understood what Douglas was implying and let out a wave of hearty laughter. Darjeeling held a serene smile while Orange Pekoe shook her head and lightly pushed Assam for her unruly laughter.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the Churchill gunner repeated as her laughter started to die down. "I shouldn't be laughing, flamethrowers are serious business." A few chuckles still surfaced from her, though, from the tale's extreme absurdity factor.

Orange Pekoe shook her head in disapproval before turning to check on Dennis. Her eyes widened when she took in the Northern Irishman's state: even worse than before. She quickly stood. "Someone help me with Dennis!" she requested as she moved to his side.

"Ah, shite!" Darjeeling cursed at her inattentiveness. It wasn't often one heard her curse, meaning she took the job of looking after Dennis quite seriously. "How did I forget?!"

"Just help me get him to lie down!" Orange Pekoe commanded as both Englishwomen quickly but carefully dragged Dennis back to his bed.

Back at the table, Assam, Douglas, and Arthur looked on. Silence reigned for a bit before Assam broke it. "Is it just me or is Darjeeling taking this a lot more seriously than I expected?" she wondered.

"And yet she _still_ forgot that you're not supposed to give hot tea to someone with a high fever…" Douglas noted with irritation.

Assam glanced over to the Scotsman. "Well why didn't you say anything, then, _oh great Doctor Douglas?_ " she retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm near the end.

"Because Orange Pekoe would've noticed before it got too bad," Douglas smoothly answered. He then crossed his arms. "And lo and behold, she _did._ "

Assam shook her head and flipped the bird to the Scotsman, unable to find a suitable verbal retort. Said Scotsman merely grinned victoriously, knowing he won the argument. Arthur merely watched them with that same smile, as if nothing was out of the norm. And truth be told, this _was_ rather normal for the British six-some.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, Darjeeling wheeled a cart to Dennis' bedside, stacked high with various medicines, both boxed and bottled. "I got all these medicines for you!" the Churchill commander enthusiastically revealed as she waved to said stack of medicines. "Take whichever you like!"

"Ugh," Dennis groaned, irritated with Darjeeling. "Taking this many, I'm as likely to grow a third arm as I am to get cured…"

Orange Pekoe came beside Darjeeling and took the medicine cart in hand to push away. "Hey!" Darjeeling briefly cried out in objection.

Orange Pekoe merely shook her head with a tolerant smile. "Too much medicine is even worse than no medicine," she factually explained. "Besides, most medicines are supposed to be taken after meals, to help with ensuring the medicine goes to work."

At that last comment, Darjeeling's eyes lit up in utter delight. She whipped out a cooking apron and immediately rushed off to the kitchen.

Dennis realized a little too late what the sight of her putting on an apron meant. "Oh, bollocks!" he cursed in alarm that _Darjeeling_ was going to cook.

Orange Pekoe subtly backed away, as if knowing that she was going to get yelled at for implanting the idea in Darjeeling's head to cook. By the time Dennis tried to find her, she was already out of sight.

The Northern Irishman next stood up and turned to find Douglas. " _Help meeeee!_ " he practically begged to be spared from Darjeeling's notoriously awful cooking.

Douglas merely shook his head with an amused smirk. "Uh-uh, I already ate," he responded, denying the request for help as well. He was clearly staying out of the way when it came to suffering through Darjeeling's cooking.

"Oh, you bloody traitor!" Dennis barked back at the Scotsman. By that time, everyone else in the flat besides Orange Pekoe and Darjeeling was gathered together by the bed, because they could all hear how Darjeeling was murdering everything in the kitchen.

The sounds coming from the kitchen led Douglas to cross his arms in seeming finality. "Well, Dennis, it's been nice knowing you," he commented with an amused smirk, referring to the inevitably horrible cuisine destined for the Northern Irishman. "I'll let everyone important know that you won't be returning to class for the foreseeable future."

"Come on, mate!" Dennis resorted to begging again. "Help me! I'm not even that sick!"

"Finished!" Darjeeling's voice was heard decreeing across the flat. "Thanks for being so patient, Dennis!"

Dennis sucked in a breath out of fear for whatever creation of Darjeeling's would be forced down his throat and rip him apart from the inside out. He slowly turned around, bracing for what he might see.

What awaited him was a maliciously disgusting dish of… _porridge?_ "Huh?" he blinked in confusion.

The dish Darjeeling prepared was porridge. Just regular, run of the mill porridge. And it actually smelled like porridge was supposed to smell like. It looked absolutely delectable.

"It's just… some normal… porridge?" Dennis tried to comprehend how in the world Darjeeling managed to actually cook something without mutilating it with her own touch. It was stupefying to him and everyone else besides Orange Pekoe for some reason. The Northern Irishman would've guessed her lack of surprise was due to her being so familiar with Darjeeling's antics that nothing the Churchill commander did surprised her much anymore.

"Of course it is," Darjeeling replied as if it was obvious, taking a seat at the bedside at the same time as Dennis did. "By the Queen, it's not like fish and chips are the best thing for recovery." She then took a spoonful of porridge. "And this was actually Orange Pekoe's idea to make porridge. Her expertise was of great value."

Dennis sent an eternally grateful look in Orange Pekoe's direction, to which the Englishwoman nodded in response with a smile.

"Well then…" Darjeeling lifted up the spoon. She then lightly blew across it, and Dennis raised an eyebrow. Douglas and Assam began to snicker slightly at what was about to happen, while Arthur smiled again as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "There, now say ah!"

The Churchill commander spoon-fed the first bite to the Northern Irishman, who soon understood what was happening: Darjeeling was being clingy and dramatic again. Dennis rolled his eyes but took the spoon-feeding without complaint, knowing that nothing could stop Darjeeling from her antics. Without drawing the Englishwoman's attention with the action, he also flipped the bird to Douglas and Assam for their snickering.

"There we are," Darjeeling noted with satisfaction and got another spoonful. She then tried to spoon-feed Dennis again, but this time, the spoonful was intercepted by Arthur. When the Englishman tried to bite down, Darjeeling pulled the spoon away just in time. Arthur tried again, lurching his head forth to the spoon, but Darjeeling thwarted him again by pulling the spoon further out of reach.

"Arthur, did we not already have lunch for ourselves?" Darjeeling turned to the Englishman to reprimand him.

"Bah, _starviiiiing…!_ " Arthur moaned out a response, dissatisfied with being denied sustenance.

"No. Now get," the Churchill commander finalized before she shooed away the Spitfire ace with her hand.

"Uuuuugh…" Arthur groaned like a child denied his favorite toy, even dragging his feet like one as he walked away.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, night fell, and it came time for the British style of nursing to come to a halt.

"Thanks for coming, mates," Dennis saw everyone off at his door, still looking somewhat sick but not as bad as before. He meant his words: he had actually enjoyed the company, which was more than he was honestly expecting when they all showed up on his doorstep uninvited.

"Be sure to properly cover up when you sleep," Orange Pekoe offered a last bit of advice, while the others waved farewell. Dennis nodded in acknowledgement of the petite Churchill loader's expertise.

"Oh, one last thing," Darjeeling began as she approached. She then handed over a large take-out bag to Dennis. "I decided to make by my own hand some fish and chips, roast beef with omelet, and eel jelly just for you! Be sure to eat it all up once you feel better! I made lots!"

That was when Dennis took everything he thought earlier back, at least with regards to Darjeeling. ' _So close… So close!_ ' he agonizingly thought. He was so close to avoiding having to consume any Darjeeling-made food that day. So close, yet all for naught.

"Right…" Dennis eventually spoke as he put on a fake smile and took the take-out bag. "Well, thank you all, and goodnight." He then beat a hasty retreat back into his flat, slamming the door shut with restraint.

"Well…" Arthur started as the five-strong group began to walk off to their own flats. "That was…"

"That was fun!" Darjeeling finished with a bright smile, still oblivious to the effect of her cooking.

Assam snorted in the most ladylike manner possible at Darjeeling's persistent enthusiasm. "What, were you enjoying yourself back there?" she asked with amusement.

"We should all wash up when we get home," Orange Pekoe advised the rest as they continued on. "We might not have caught his illness, but it's better to take precautions to avoid such-"

The petite Churchill loader was cut off when Douglas let out a loud sneeze. That got everyone to turn toward him. "Bollocks…" he muttered as he sniffled a bit.

The others then took notice of Darjeeling, whose eyes flared into life again at the sight of Douglas apparently catching sick. The Scotsman himself noticed it as well, but was further lost on why he was being stared at with such intensity. "Um… What?" he asked, sensing that he was the current center of attention, and not in a good way.

Darjeeling approached him, and he realized what was about to happen as he started sputtering, "Uh-wait, wait, I'm fine, I'm fine-" Darjeeling took him by the wrist and started dragging him. "Wait, wait, _WAAAAAIIIIIT!_ "

The other four remaining stared as Darjeeling took off dragging Douglas by the wrist off to who knows where. Arthur, Orange Pekoe, and Assam all glanced at each other before looking back to where Darjeeling was heading off towards with Douglas forcibly in tow. All three came to the conclusion that Douglas was going to be looked after by Nurse Darjeeling, and they all shivered in horror at the thought of what was likely to happen in that case.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 _ **XXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	121. Kapitel 26,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Sechundzwanzig: Besuche**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Gegenschlag**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

" _Please tell us, Nishi-taichou!_ " a flurry of reporters swarmed Chi-Ha-Tan Gakuen's _Taichou_ of their _Kikoubutai,_ Kisho Nishi. " _Chi-Ha-Tan Gakuen is going up against Germany's best! How do you plan to prepare your team for the battle?_ "

" _Hey-wait-please,_ " the dark brunette and brown-eyed Japanese captain tried to interject without rudely interrupting the journalists that were hounding him presently, so far to no avail.

" _Nishi-taichou, what are your thoughts on your team being put up against Germany's Black Forest Peak Gymnasium?_ " another reporter asked. The big topic of the day was about the recent drawings for the International High School Arts of Warfare Tournament, particularly how Chi-Ha-Tan Gakuen had been put up against the elite German school of Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium. The overall mood amongst the Japanese press was that of eagerness, as having their representative school go up against Germany's best was sure to be worthy journalism.

Kisho immediately took advantage of the brief reprieve in the excessive questioning given by that particular reporter's inquiry, and answered, " _Well, our basic objective is to hand the Germans another defeat._ " The Japanese _Taichou_ then continued with great confidence for his next words. " _The people of Japan are ready to fight._ "

Isabel-Justina Hartmann shut off the television after watching the news and seeing one of her next foes being paparazzi'd so heavily. His last words, though likely not intended as such, sounded like a direct challenge to her, considering he was invoking nationality into the fight now. Well, she would call his raising of the stakes. " _Ad victoriam, ex machina, non sibi sed, patriae,_ " she softly muttered her long-time favorite Latin phrase as she slipped her jacket on. She then repeated the words again with a different tongue, this time stopping on the way out to stare at a photo of her and her younger sister Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann. "To victory, through the machine, not for ourselves, but for our country."

With those words to herself, she strode out of the quaint house she and Michael Nishizumi shared aboard the _Graf Zeppelin_ with purpose. It was a new season in the high school circuit of the Arts of Warfare, meaning it was another chance to take home the golden glory of being victorious. And let it be said that Isabel still had that instinctive habit of hers to constantly vie for victory. This year was no exception, though the circumstances were. It was a dangerous line of thought she was going down whenever she thought of her sister these days, so she immediately shut that line down and brought her full focus back to the next foes needing conquering.

She was not the only one preparing for the battle against the Japanese. Michael Nishizumi was also spending his time to prepare for the battle, at the hangars. It was ironic to him that he would be taking on what was once his ancestors' countrymen while he himself was as German as they came. Family trees were interesting, to say the least, when it came to the Nishizumi nameplate.

But that was not what he was preparing for. No. Instead, he was doing a readiness check of the _Panzers_ equipping Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerabteilung,_ including the newest models that were acquired during the break from last year's finale to this year's beginning. There was, as always, his personal _Tiger_ number _212,_ and the highly numerous _Panther_ Gs, and the _Panzer_ III J1s. The previous year's _Panzer_ IV Js were greatly modified into the Vomag production version of the _Jagdpanzer_ IV/70. Newly acquired this year were a number of special vehicles, but the ones paid closest attention to were the new Henschel-turreted _Tiger_ IIs, one of which was commanded by the new _Vizekapitän_ of the _Panzerabteilung,_ Erik Ignatz, or as Michael remembered Erika derisively calling him last year, _Schneeballkopf._ Snowball-head, after his very light blonde hair color.

 _Kickstart!  
Fighter launch  
Throttle set to full!_

When the day came for Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ to launch into the skies of Japan from the _Graf Zeppelin_ to win the pre-battle contest in achieving air superiority, the German school's aviation branch was in high morale all around. Isabel took off in her custom-painted Bf 109 G-6 to lead the way, and following after were the rest of her loyal subordinates. It spoke measures about her abilities as a captain that she was able to turn around the massive backlash that took over the _Jagdgeschwader_ at the end of last season's frustrating loss at Prokorovka, especially considering she had suffered the most of all.

 _Speed kings!  
Race to win  
Pistons and jets roaring!_

And, like the _Panzerabteilung,_ the _Jagdgeschwader_ also received plenty of new toys over the break. Isabel's unique Bf 109 G-6 stuck around, as did the Bf 109 F-4s and vastly plentiful Fw 190 D-13s. Freshly converted from the previous year's Bf 109 G-14s were new Bf 109 G-10/U4s.

There were other fighters, too, but by and far the most anticipated additions were the fighters that were practically generating a tornado with their jet-blasts as they took off. The school had acquired a handful of the infamous Me 262 jets, specifically the main fighter variant, the Me 262 A-1a. One of those was given the yellow number 14 on its side, signifying it was now the steed of Hanna Jochen. Despite having the permanent burns on her face from the Prokhorovka incident, her perseverance in team matters convinced Isabel that she was worthy of being her _Oberleutnant_ that year.

All of Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters took on a tropical camouflage this year, with a distinct orange-tan upper layer and cream white lower layer. In the case of Isabel's black-tulip-decorated 109, the black tulip nose art was retained with the new scheme, making her _Gustav_ especially distinctive.

 _Flash-like!  
Blitzkrieg strikes  
Takes them by surprise!_

When the scheduled fight against Chi-Ha-Tan arrived, war between the two schools raged on in the southern portions of Kyushu island. Despite the Japanese school's unrelenting morale, the fight proved extremely one-sided when faced with the German school's might. That was proven when Michael's _Tiger_ number _212_ ended the fight with a graveyard of utterly destroyed _Chi-Has_ before him. The Japanese tanks were out-gunned, out-armored, and out-maneuvered by the German _Panzers._ A quick dash to the high ground by the agile and numerous _Panthers_ effectively sealed Chi-Ha-Tan's fate on the ground, and afterwards it was merely shooting fish in a barrel as the rest of the _Panzers_ coupled with airstrikes picked off the Japanese tanks one by one.

 _Score three-hundred seven  
Black Forest rules the heavens!_

The air war was just as brutally quick. Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ had plenty of practice beforehand, having managed to collectively score three-hundred seven victories as a team in the short time spent between getting in range and waiting for the day of battle to arrive, and without a single loss as well.

During the fight itself, it was the infamous 109 marked as _Karaya-Ein_ that made the skies rain with fire: Isabel had shot down at least half of Chi-Ha-Tan's aviation singlehandedly, with the destroyed Zeroes usually streaking across the skies while engulfed by a blaze of flames. It was so terrible, yet so captivating also, seeing the destruction Isabel was mercilessly dishing out. It was one after another, like a chain. A very long chain.

 _The Finnish attacked  
Black Forest crushed that futile attempt  
Controlling destinaaaaay_

After handing the Japanese a decisive defeat, it was a few months before Schwarzwaldspitze next saw combat, with the _Jagdgeschwader_ intercepting a small probe of fighters over the Gulf of Suez. The enemy fighters belonged to Jatkaminen Peruskoulo, hailing from Finland. Both Schwarzwaldspitze and Jatkaminen were well-antiquated with each other, having had practice fights with each other in the past, and with that experience, Isabel knew that even just a small number of their pilots could wreak havoc.

The probe of Finnish fighters consisted of just some rather worthless I-15s, which were easily disposed of, but Isabel knew that this probe was just that: a probe, meant to gauge Schwarzwaldspitze's abilities. Having as low of a supply on equipment as they did, Jatkaminen preferred to conserve their best assets until they were needed. Really, the German ultra-ace already had the Finnish strategy figured out by now: as they didn't have the advantage of fighting on their home turf this round, being as the second round took place in the deserts of eastern Egypt, the Finns would need every advantage they could get. And Isabel was in a perfect position to deny them the ability to gain intel for that purpose.

The second round battle between Schwarzwaldspitze and Jatkaminen was the most anticipated of all the second round fights by the spectators, considering Isabel had publicly acknowledged that Jatkaminen was a tough nut to crack, even for such a well-prepared team as Schwarzwaldspitze. Another reason to explain the anticipation was that the fight was taking place in the desert, which presented unique challenges to both sides to ensure their equipment could handle the harsh environment.

Though there was also the issue of making sure nobody got heat stroke, either. Schwarzwaldspitze solved this problem by breaking out the so-called _Afrikakleidung_ for everyone to wear. The _Afrikakleidung_ were much lighter and desert-oriented uniforms in a sandy color. Isabel's outfit in particular consisted of some sandy tan combat boots, a sandy tan short skirt that was just long enough to cover the essentials but leaving little of her legs to the imagination, along with a white tank top that, because of its shortness, left her entire midriff exposed. Rounding out the outfit was a sandy tan short-sleeved jacket that was just as short as her tank top, with all the identifying emblems her normal Schwarzwaldspitze aviator jacket had.

She didn't feel uncomfortable in the least bit with the amount of skin she exposed, for three reasons. The first was that she was luckily blessed to not have any skin problems that would make her averse to uncovering her skin. The second was because of the heat of the desert, which she felt made her outfit fully justifiable. The third was that she just didn't care: she did whatever she wanted, and nobody told her otherwise.

 _Drive back!  
Surprise attack  
Put up armored wall!_

On the ground as the fight against the Finnish came in earnest, the _Panzerabteilung_ came under a sudden and concentrated attack from enemy armor. Despite losing a couple of tanks, the _Panzerkeil_ formation used by the Germans minimized losses due to the concentration of the heavier _Panzers_ at the tip and base. The wings, made up of the agile _Panthers,_ quickly fanned out to envelop the fast attackers that came from the sides, while the heavier _Tiger_ I and _Tiger_ IIs concentrated at the more heavily-armed tanks of Jatkaminen coming from the front.

In the end, the Finnish attack had run itself flat into the armored wall that was Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerabteilung._ The air war fared no better for Jatkaminen, as despite the talent of the Finnish pilots, none could take on the talent of Isabel-Justina Hartmann or Hanna Jochen, nor could they do anything against the sheer performance advantage of the German fighters. It was a lose-lose outcome no matter which way they went.

 _Next rain!  
Give them pain  
Over El Alamein!_

Several weeks later within the Schwarzwaldspitze camp in the desert several miles south of El Alamein during the black of night, a very particular Englishman was discreetly snooping through the German school's equipment. With some shoulder-length blonde hair that was quite wild in its styling plus blue eyes, this lean Englishman was Aston, a member of St Gloriana High School's Tank Battalion. He was the go-to guy for gathering information via secretive means thanks to his skill in infiltration. Currently, he was gathering intel on Schwarzwaldspitze's aviation when he was interrupted.

"Worst. Spy. Ever," the Englishman froze at the English-spoken words laced with a mature and feminine German speech pattern. Aston turned his head enough to look behind him to find the Black Demoness herself standing there alone, appearing to be amused in a condescending way by the Brit's efforts. Isabel-Justina Hartmann knew something was off when she faintly heard a multi-engine aircraft fly through the area, and it looks like she found the reason why as she slowly strutted towards the English spy. "Am I correct, ' _Mister Bond?_ '"

 _The British!  
Last in line  
Head for the raised heights!_

Isabel didn't allow St Gloriana to have their spy back until the day of the fight, when it would be too late to capitalize on the intel Aston had gathered. She had him stay in hers and Michael's quarters until then, as her prisoner. By this time, everybody knew of when Kolenka, Pravda's _Kapitan,_ had kept Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann prisoner during the time before the final battle at Prokhorovka last year. Isabel swore to herself she wouldn't descend down to the brutish Russian's level of torment, out of regret for not listening to her sister tell her about her own experience being held prisoner by said Russian.

To Aston's surprise, she treated him with much more kindness than he thought the Black Demoness was capable of showing. When asked why, Isabel stiffened and replied with effort, "It was something I should have done last year." That gave Aston a lot of perspective into the kind of person Isabel truly was, behind the front she put up for the cameras.

When the semifinal fight between St Gloriana and Schwarzwaldspitze came around after a few weeks spent probing one another's defenses, the German _Panzerabteilung_ quickly dashed for the higher ground. The higher ground held a massively commanding view considering that from the direction the British were to approach from, the terrain was all flat, giving quite the advantage.

 _Strike without a warning!  
See the British forces falling!_

At the top of the heights, Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzers_ opened fire from tremendously long ranges, reaching 2,500 meters in distance. These ranges were so far away that it was extremely difficult to just see the enemy, let alone hit them.

But that was perfectly within the range of the German guns, and the shells fired by the long-barreled guns still maintained enough momentum to penetrate the armor of St Gloriana's numerous Matilda IIs. As a result, scores of unprepared and surprised Matilda IIs succumbed to the Schwarzwaldspitze barrages early on. The Churchill Mk VII was a different story, however, because of its incredibly thick armor, but even that armor wasn't necessarily safe from being clawed through by a _Tiger_ II's fire, even from such a range as over 2,000 meters. It was sheer luck that the heavier infantry tank survived.

 _The British attacked  
Black Forest crushed their lines of defense  
Conquered El Alameeeeeiiiiin!  
Three rains of fire!  
One victor stands!_

However, St Gloriana's Tank Battalion had a trick up their sleeve in the form of some Cromwell Mk VIIs. These quick cruiser tanks dashed back and forth across the sand, far enough away to avoid being effectively tracked by German _Panzers,_ and threw up a huge cloud of dust to hand the British some visual cover. The unconventional tactic worked, as it allowed them a reprieve from the intense fire.

Michael's response to that was to send off his _Panzers_ in two pincers, one to strike from each side, while he himself stayed atop the heights to provide a distraction. The end result was practically the entirety of the British Tank Battalion being demolished.

Somehow, though, against all odds, the commanding Churchill Mk VII of St Gloriana was able to get to the heights through a combination of stalling actions as well as concealment: the remaining infantry tanks had bitterly held out as long as possible while the remaining cruiser tanks, of the Crusader Mk III and Cromwell Mk VII variety, helped generate a large cloud of dust to conceal the Churchill's movements.

Darrence, the blonde English commander of the Tank Battalion with no aversion to taking heavy fire, ascended the steep incline with his Churchill, but was caught off-guard at the top. Upon cresting the top of the hills, he found _Tiger_ number _212's_ 88 mm cannon pointed straight at him. At this close a range, the 88 mm round penetrated the Churchill's thick hide and knocked it out, therefore giving Schwarzwaldspitze an overwhelming victory for their third fight in a row.

 _Path of redemption  
Earning respect  
Controlling destinaaaaay!_

The common consensus after Schwarzwaldspitze emerged victorious against St Gloriana was that they were going to go all the way and win the tournament. Their three victories so far were so extremely quick compared to the other fights thus far that it was hard to imagine even Pravda being able to hold out against them. Schwarzwaldspitze was looking to avenge themselves for the loss last year, and they certainly looked capable of doing so with an overwhelming efficiency.

Against Chi-Ha-Tan on Kyushu Island, the Germans had practically no way to lose. The Japanese armor was worthless against the German _Panzers._ While the Japanese aviation was not to be taken lightly, the Germans were so superior in equipment and skill that it was not an issue whatsoever. Hence, Schwarzwaldspitze's first battle was predicted to be a slaughtering.

That did not mean Chi-Ha-Tan's morale had plummeted. In fact, it was quite the opposite: Chi-Ha-Tan was actually honored to face off against Schwarzwaldspitze, because the German school was so prestigious. It made the Japanese want to try even harder against them.

Isabel could easily attest to that, as Chi-Ha-Tan's _Hikou Shidan_ proved to be very fierce in battle. Their captain, Sakai- _taichou,_ full name Sachi Sakai, was very insistent on wanting to take on Isabel herself. She had very dark, almost black, hair that had some of it tied into a thinly-stranded ponytail, and a similar dark brown eye. Yes, 'eye,' in the singular form. That was because over her right eye was an eyepatch, white with a diagonal light blue stripe.

" _Faszinierend…_ " Isabel fascinatingly observed during the battle against the Japanese while she was deliberately climbing away from Sachi's A6M2. She was fascinated by how different yet similar the Chi-Ha-Tan forces were proving to be to Schwarzwaldspitze in terms of attitude: just like Isabel's own girls, Sachi's _Hikou Shidan_ was unwaveringly loyal to her. Isabel would have to ask Michael about Japanese culture later. She figured he had picked up on some things from his ancestors.

Then Isabel ended the fight by sending Hanna in her Me 262 to buzz Sachi's Zero, giving the black-haired ultra-ace the time and distraction necessary to double back and shoot down the A6M herself and turn it into a fireball. Sachi was just another of the numerous tally marks added under Isabel's name, a name that would claim half of the Japanese girl's teammates by the time the battle was over.

The ground war was trying on the patience of anyone that wasn't in a _Panther._ The _Panther_ crews were able to do as they could do against any other opponent and simply run circles around them, with the added bonus of being completely invulnerable from the front. Even when shooting at its sides, only half of Chi-Ha-Tan's tanks were able to penetrate the _Panther's_ armor.

Meanwhile, the couple of _Panzer_ III J1s could keep up with the Panthers but lacked the armor protection to be completely invulnerable from the front, as Chi-Ha-Tan's _Chi-Ha Kais_ that made up half their forces could punch through the 50 mm frontal armor if close enough. The other _Jagdpanzer_ IV/70s were slow enough that they had to be on watch for Chi-Ha-Tan's charges, compounded even further by their self-propelled gun design. The Japanese knew the land they were fighting on, which made their banzai charges more dangerous to get caught in than they normally would be. The _Tiger_ IIs, while slow, were nigh invulnerable to the Japanese tanks. The worst they could do was take out the tracks.

Michael's _Tiger_ number _212_ was a well-oiled machine as always, dropping Chi-Ha-Tan's various _Chi-Has,_ _Chi-Ha Kais,_ and even the rarer _Ha-Gos,_ like they were nothing. That led to the creation of the Japanese tank graveyard at the end of the fight.

Against Jatkaminen in the deserts of eastern Egypt, Schwarzwaldspitze leaned further on the side of caution. The German school had taken on the Finnish school in practice matches before, and Isabel and Michael both drew the conclusion that the Finns were difficult to fight. Jatkaminen was a champion of guerrilla warfare and just generally being able to hold out against far more numerous opponents.

But the relatively gentle desert terrain was a big disadvantage to Jatkaminen on the ground, as they weren't used to driving on such surfaces. Nevertheless, Michael kept everyone in the _Panzerkeil_ arrangement, as the way it was arranged allowed for an easier defense and counterattack if necessary. Putting the agile _Panthers_ on the wings allowed for a quick double envelopment to play out when cued, and everyone else could survive with ease against the most likely fast attackers, the BT tanks that belonged to Jatkaminen. The heavy armor at the tip and base could easily take down Jatkaminen's heavier _Panzer_ IV Js, _Sturmis,_ and their T-34s, both 76 mm and 85 mm models. Their T-26s were practically worthless, as they were too slow to be of great use.

Even in the air, the Finnish still had the disadvantage. The desert skies were extremely clear, meaning each side could see much further due to lack of any kind of clouds, therefore making it easier to spot the opponent. And as both sides had highly-skilled pilots to take advantage of such circumstances, that meant the advantage went to the side with superior equipment, which was Schwarzwaldspitze. Jatkaminen was able to muster together enough numbers to be on parity with the Germans, though a majority of those tanks and fighters were vastly inferior, like the T-26 or I-15, for instance.

" _Voi, perkele,_ " Jatkaminen's _Rykmentinkomentaja_ cursed at her luck of being the sole remaining fighter against the entirety of Schwarzwaldspitze, though the way it was said was very nonchalant, as if it was like shrugging in indifference. That was how Ilmatar was by nature: she was mystic and ambiguous, and just generally not well understood. She had very light blonde hair, a typical Nordic trait, reaching to the middle of her back, and dark brown eyes.

The Finnish girl flew one of the Bf 109 G-2s gifted to Jatkaminen by Schwarzwaldspitze after last season came to an end. It was in the distinct dark green and black woodland top and sky blue bottom camouflage that was utilized during the Continuation War, along with having an orange number 4 on its side. The camouflage scheme itself demonstrated how inadequately prepared Jatkaminen was: they still had their woodland and snow camouflages even though they were fighting in the desert.

Though soon enough, Ilmatar was relieved of having to fight any further, because Isabel shot her down while the Finn was performing evasive maneuvers to avoid all the other German fighters. It was a miracle and a testament to her skill in remaining untouched that she survived for so long.

 _Three foes have fallen  
In three too-quick wars_

First, it was the woodland-kanji emblem of Chi-Ha-Tan that fell to Schwarzwaldspitze's _Blitzkrieg._ Next, it was the light blue-dark blue shield of Jatkaminen that fell to the unrelenting German advance. And then it was the teapot shield of St Gloriana that capitulated under the unrivaled German prowess.

Each of the Rising Sun, white-blue Nordic Cross, and Union Jack banners successively fell to the _Schwarz-Rot-Gelb_ tricolor. The three victories were nearly flawless on the German side, with only a handful of losses total after all three battles were won.

 _Jokers of last turn  
Disproved in desert!_

Isabel took this stint of battles personally, because it was obvious that the entirety of the Arts of Warfare High School circuit was mocking them for losing the previous year, none more so than St Gloriana. The British school was proud of its refined image, but that was really another way of saying they were extremely aristocratic. They looked down on Schwarzwaldspitze over their noses like they were unworthy, even though the British had still lost to them in their previous encounters. Though Isabel didn't see the British school's commanders ever being so disrespectful, their underlings and common students were a different story. The Anglosphere was simply toxic towards the Germans.

It was simply insulting to the black-haired ultra-ace, because such prejudice she interpreted as being aimed at her younger sister, and Isabel refused to acknowledge her as being the cause of their defeat last year. She felt as if everyone was mocking Erika, and Isabel wouldn't stand for it, hence her aggressive fighting during the battles. It felt so good to silence that mockery.

 _Under the sun  
In the dust of the war_

Lynnette, having been recommended as Group Captain for this year, held up a hand to shield her eyes from the intense sun as she looked up from her place on the ground after her Spitfire LF Mk IX was shot down. She squinted up at one particular _Messer,_ the one that had the black number 1 on the side and the iconic black tulip nose art.

She thought she had a chance against Isabel this year, considering she had an improved Spitfire LF Mk IX this year and had managed to set up a one-on-one dogfight with the German. But the Black Demoness prevailed yet again.

 _One team still standing  
Stronger than before!_

Schwarzwaldspitze sure was a force to be reckoned with, as Lynnette had come to figure out. And the Englishwoman also noticed how Isabel was able to silence all of her naysayers with her actions. Lynnette wanted to guess that the reason the Germans were fighting so determinedly was because they were unified in their cause for vengeance.

For Isabel herself, the Englishwoman smiled as she deduced the German girl's reason for fighting so hard: it was all for her sister. Lynnette had met Erika earlier in the year after a practice fight against Ooarai, and after that meeting, she could now see why Isabel tried so hard for her sake.

 _First took Chi-Ha-Tan  
And sent them to hell!  
Then moved to take down Jatkaminen_

After the Schwarzwaldspitze-Chi-Ha-Tan fight was finished, the battle was well-described by the various images of the Japanese tank graveyard in front of _Tiger_ number _212._ The images of Zeroes-turned-fireballs flying through the sky also accurately detailed the fight's extreme one-sidedness.

If anyone had doubted Schwarzwaldspitze's skill, those doubts were rescinded after they decisively defeated Jatkaminen. The Finnish school was not an easy foe to defeat, requiring good tactics to break them apart and take them down. And the German school proved capable of that and more, as they suffered very few losses.

 _To El Alamein!  
And Saint Gloriana_

The hot and dry desert was a very unfriendly environment to hang around in, but for the sake of achieving victory, such hardships had to be endured for Schwarzwaldspitze during the fight in eastern Egypt against Jatkaminen, and again during the later fight at El Alamein against St Gloriana.

The El Alamein fight in particular was highly publicized and spectated both on the British side as well as the German side, as it was portrayed as a historic rematch, the so-called 'Third Battle of El Alamein.' The score for battles at El Alamein was even, with the Germans winning the first battle and the British winning the second battle with the help of the Americans. Therefore, the third battle was a tiebreaker of sorts.

 _Break them in no time  
PROTECT REDEMPTION!_

It was a tiebreaker that the German side had claimed victory in without breaking a sweat it seemed. Though St Gloriana did their best to try and prolong the fight, in the end Schwarzwaldspitze prevailed in a spectacularly overwhelming victory, losing only a handful of their own compared to the British losing everyone they had.

This win was sorely desired for the German side, as they wished to seek redemption for last season's humiliating loss. For some, there was even more to that redemption. Isabel-Justina Hartmann was one such case, as she hoped to use the victories as her own personal form of redemption. She greatly wished to make up for her mistakes made last year toward her sister, and the way she saw to do that was to win in a humbling manner. She wanted to prove that she didn't think winning meant everything, as that was the mindset that caused her sister to run off.

 _Three rains of fire!  
One victor stands!_

To the rest of the world, Schwarzwaldspitze was pure fire, burning everything in its path with no discrimination. Their _Panzers_ always marched on, either absorbing enemy fire with their grand armor or blowing their enemies to smithereens from a distance that would make them appear as mere specks on the horizon. And their aviation was absolutely merciless in their targeting, setting fighters ablaze and cratering the ground with their bombs. Because, as proven in competition, there could only be one victor, and the Germans strove heavily to earn that glory.

 _Path of redemption  
Earning respect  
Controlling destinaaaaay  
Three rains of fire!  
One victor stands!_

But Isabel had nothing less to try and strive for than her sister's forgiveness, and the way she saw to do that was by winning. It was the way she and Erika had always solved problems when they were growing up: fight each other, and whoever won gets what they want, to which the loser had to cede to the victor's demands. To make it even harder, Isabel had to prevent herself from becoming obsessed with victory itself, to just take the victory and leave it at that.

Of course, she never told anyone that was her real reason for striving so hard in battle. Erika was still a sensitive topic around Schwarzwaldspitze, but Isabel saw that as yet another reason to strive so hard: to try and clear her sister's unfairly-earned bad rap.

But those were her reasons, and she kept them in mind during every occasion she shot down a Zero, every time she shot down an I-16, every time she downed a Spitfire, every time she crippled an La-5, every time she downed a Bf 109, every time she ripped apart a Tempest or Typhoon. Every single time she shot down an enemy, she was thinking of Erika and how those kills were done in her name.

In hindsight, she was glad to have such a revealing and, more importantly, light outfit as she did, as she was positive that in any heavier outfit, she would've collapsed already from overexertion. She was pushing herself so hard that any outfit that was heavier would've been enough to cause her to overheat and faint. It showed in her combat habits, too: on every sortie, she was fully dedicated to air superiority, never taking a ground attack mission or a recon flight. She only wanted to destroy the enemy's number one resource: its aviation.

 _Path of redemption  
Earning respect!  
Controlling destinAAAAAAAAAAY!_

Isabel-Justina Hartmann was the undisputed number one fighter pilot in the world, and her most recent displays in the air against the Japanese, the Finnish, and the British all cemented that as fact. The fact that she could tangle with the world's other top aces and come out on top with hardly any effort also played into her reputation as number one.

Chi-Ha-Tan's Sachi Sakai was quite an aggressive pilot when Isabel fought her, but she was too hasty in her decisions. She was someone who, compared to Isabel, let her emotions get the best of her and influence her thinking. Instead of trying to lure the Black Demoness into a trap, Sachi tried to take her heads-up, which went poorly for the Japanese ace seeing as Isabel could simply outrun her A6M2 if desired.

Jatkaminen's Ilmatar was very talented, particularly in evasion, and her Bf 109 G-2 put her on roughly equal footing with the Black Demoness. Nobody could land a shot on her all fight except for Isabel. Ilmatar's downfall at the hand of Isabel was caused by the Finnish ace's lack of offensive action. She had preferred to hang back to wait for a perfect opportunity that ultimately never came. With a horde of fighters pouncing on her, Ilmatar was determined to go down regardless.

St Gloriana's Lynnette stood the closest shot out of all of them for taking down Isabel. Lynnette was a level-headed person that knew how to fly, and her Spitfire LF Mk IX had better dogfighting performance than Isabel's Bf 109 G-6 did. But the English-born ace made the same flaw Ilmatar did by being too cautious early on. Her loss was aggravated by her sudden spur of aggressive flight when she had come upon Isabel, the same mistake Sachi had made. That mistake caused her to carelessly throw away her energy in maneuvers that wasted away that energy. Well, that and Isabel was a very good shot, hitting a massive deflection shot to take down the British ace.

One, two, three. Zero, _Messer,_ Spitfire. Three more aces to add to the Black Demoness' long, long, _long_ list of victories. And underneath that outer shell, Isabel-Justina Hartmann really hoped that her sister could be proud of her for that. Despite being the elder of the two, it was somewhat ironic that she wished for approval from her younger sister, but nobody would laugh about it if they knew exactly _why_ Isabel sought Erika's approval.

The reason why was for forgiveness, for a horrid mistake on Isabel's end that drove Erika to run away from her. Isabel wished for nothing more than to have Erika, her dear little sister, back in her arms. And she would go all the way to the stars if needed to make it happen.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	122. Kapitel 27,1,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Hausbesuch**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Remind me, exactly _why_ are we here again?" were the first words to come out of Douglas' mouth after reaching the front double doors to a large mansion. He was at the doors with Dennis, Assam, Arthur, and Orange Pekoe. Neither the Scotsman nor the Northern Irishman were pleased to be there, as evidenced by their unbelievably bored expressions.

"Oh, quit your whining, would you?" Assam berated Dennis and Douglas, fully expecting their behavior but still not very pleased about it. "You chose to come, so quit complaining. It makes you look childish."

Douglas responded by flipping the bird to her, too stubborn and unwilling to concede to her point.

"Well, this should be interesting, I predict," Arthur noted. With the way everyone was thus far and with expectations of what was to come, the English Spitfire pilot felt that this visit to the English countryside would be captivating entertainment.

"Come on, mates," Orange Pekoe tried to convince the others to act proper as she stood closest to the doors, ready to ring the doorbell. "You could at least be on your best behavior. Remember that this is Lady Darjeeling's home." She then rang the doorbell, which provided a melodic bell tune that was loud yet refined, fitting for a mansion as large and fancy as this one.

The others of the group looked to each other and silently agreed to be on their best behavior as they straightened up. Even though they collectively didn't much embrace coming to Darjeeling's humble abode, the five-some of Brits were far too polite and well-mannered to suggest such a thing by not accepting Darjeeling's invite.

After several seconds, the grand double doors swung out towards them, and Darjeeling stepped forth. "Good morrow, mates!" she greeted politely, yet also eagerly. The Englishwoman was very much happy that her main circle of friends accepted her invite over. "Welcome!"

Orange Pekoe politely smiled back and responded for everyone, "Thank you for inviting us over to your home. I must say, its beauty is quite breathtaking." Orange Pekoe's comment did have an element of truth to it: the Victorian-era mansion in the countryside was like a stitch in time compared to the massive urban sprawl of London to its north, making it truly a sight to behold in that light.

"Oh, you are too kind, Orange Pekoe," Darjeeling tried to wave off the compliment with humility. She then stepped back and waved a hand, beckoning all of them to follow. "Come on in!"

Falling into the mansion's interior with the rest of the group, Dennis and Douglas both looked around, finding nothing but pompousness with the marble floors and cream-colored walls within the open foyer. It was an impressive sight to anyone else, but to the Scotsman and Northern Irishman, it was a display of the wealthy bourgeoisie aristocracy that they both absolutely hated the Englishwoman for, and it made their eyes twinge slightly with disgust.

Arthur, Assam, and Orange Pekoe were more or less indifferent to the wealth display, instead holding conversation with Darjeeling. "So, we have a load of things we could do first," Darjeeling led off with. "What would you all like to start with?" She thought over her words for a second and then amended her statement. "Actually, on second thought, how about I just give you the grand tour?"

"That would be most appreciated," Orange Pekoe politely accepted Darjeeling's offer.

Pleased, the Churchill commander led them all on. "Alrighty, then, if you'll follow me…" she beckoned them to follow once more, but the sound of heels slowly clicking made everyone stop and turn to the elegantly curved stair set.

"Darjeeling? Do you have guests over?" they all heard a woman speak up from the stairs. Everyone there soon saw the woman herself as she descended the stairs to the ground level and came into view. The woman herself was much like Darjeeling in appearance, most prominently in the face and French braid hairstyle. Judging by her more accentuated bodily curves, she was older than Darjeeling by a couple of decades at least, though she still appeared rather young, not having a single wrinkle to her skin or a single strand of gray hair on her scalp.

Her more accentuated curves were most obvious with regards to her cleavage, emphasized as a byproduct of the outfit she wore: a white strapless gown with frills at each end. She also wore a necklace with a shining emerald stone as the highlight.

' _Good mother of God, look at those tits…_ ' Arthur began thinking very inappropriate thoughts upon seeing the woman, solely because of her cleavage that was just sitting there waiting to be unveiled to the world from under that fabric. Assam, sensing the Spitfire pilot's lewd thoughts, swiftly elbowed him in the side. The Englishman grunted a bit and sent back a grumpy glare, no doubt displeased with Assam pulling him out of his thoughts, but he was silenced with a glare from the Churchill gunner warning him to not push his luck.

"Yes, mother," Darjeeling answered the woman's inquiry with a smile. "These are just some of my mates." She waved a hand toward the other five.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am" Orange Pekoe kindly greeted and gave a friendly smile. Assam tried to appear friendly as well whilst subtly pinching Arthur as a reminder to not think lewd thoughts about Darjeeling's mother while she was standing before them. Dennis and Douglas both gave a short, relatively unenthusiastic wave.

"Ah, well then be sure to treat them as guests of our house ought to be treated," Darjeeling's mother reminded as she walked off to the front door.

Darjeeling herself rolled her eyes, but had an affectionate smile on her face. " _Yeeeees,_ mother," she drawled out, clearly having experienced her mother's insistence by the boatload.

"Good. Alas, I must be off now, so tally ho!" Darjeeling's mother waved farewell before exiting.

"Farewell!" Darjeeling waved back. She then turned back to the others. "Now, back to our tour… Follow me!" She beckoned with her arm again to follow her, and the others dutifully obeyed.

"The place is rather large, but it doesn't feel as such because everything is laid out so efficiently," Darjeeling talked about the house as they all walked. She then pointed off to a wide hall with an entry using an intricately designed frame to their left as they approached. "Let's go here first, as this hall has all the more interesting tidbits. The others are just bedrooms and bathrooms more or less, with some closets here and there."

During Darjeeling's detailed description of the house, Douglas leaned close to Dennis and muttered, "Between Darjeeling, the Nishizumis, and the Hartmanns, all three of them put together are the reason communism never works."

Dennis snorted greatly at the humor, just barely managing to stop from bursting into laughter, as he clearly understood the joke: all three of them – Darjeeling's family, the Nishizumis, and the Hartmanns – had enough money put together to buy a small country or, alternatively, a large country with a horrible economy thanks to communism destroying said economy.

Some footsteps echoing down the hall had everyone stop at the entryway, as the steps came towards them. Coming out of the hall was a reasonably buff man in an impeccable black tuxedo holding a small goblet in one hand. He had a monocle by his right eye, but most unusual was the fact that he also had a French braid hairstyle, just like Darjeeling's.

The man noticed everyone and came to a stop, looking toward them. "Oh, you brought some mates over, Darjeeling?" the man asked as he looked over everyone that wasn't Darjeeling.

Assam immediately elbowed Arthur again to prevent him from blurting out something stupid about the man's hairstyle. The English Spitfire ace nearly had to take a step to rebalance himself, but was able to save his dignity just in time. His ribs hurt more because of Assam's hard elbowing, though.

"Yes, father," Darjeeling replied, ready to use her charms in case her father didn't approve. "No need to worry, we won't be up to anything dangerous."

Such things proved unnecessary as Darjeeling's father gave a satisfied, friendly smile to everyone. "Well, please then, feel free to relax," he gave his approval. "My home is your home." He then walked off further in the opposite direction of where Darjeeling's group was heading.

" _Must_ you keep doing that rubbish?" Arthur pointedly asked Assam, more than a little annoyed with her deliberate elbowing as the group proceeded down the hall.

Assam responded by elbowing him again, to which the Englishman grunted and actually had to take a few steps to rebalance himself. "Yes," Assam answered smugly.

"Let's see…" Darjeeling muttered to herself as they passed a few doorways. "Not this one… not this one… Aha! Here we are!" She then opened up the door and went inside, everyone else following behind.

Upon entering, though, everyone that followed Darjeeling in now wanted to backtrack their way out of the room. They were all staring at a variety of pets – some of which included some cats, some dogs, a few birds, and even a turtle – but the most unsettling aspect is that all of the animals had a blonde French braid hairstyle identical to Darjeeling's, even when it was horribly out of place on their colors.

The others besides Darjeeling blinked, before Assam finally remarked, flatly, "What the bloody hell…" Orange Pekoe elbowed her in response to the brainless comment, which had Assam yelp in response to the elbow and look back to the Churchill loader. "Oh, come on mate! Irony much?!"

Orange Pekoe grabbed Assam by the shirt and pulled her close. "Don't say such things!" she reminded in a harsh whisper. "Remember, we're guests!"

"Come on, even _you_ can't be unaffected by that!" Assam whispered back with disbelief. She didn't believe Orange Pekoe could be so desensitized to Darjeeling.

Dennis and Douglas both stared on blankly, mentally checking out from the situation. Arthur's brain was similarly broken from the sight of the pets with blonde French braids.

"Um… Guys?" Darjeeling asked, confused as to why everyone froze up. It was a bit discontenting, because Darjeeling really wanted to show off the pets she owned.

XXXXXXXXXX

Assam woke up and shot up in her bed abruptly, ending her dream. It was not very pleasant judging by her shortness of breath, and she breathed for a bit before finally calming down from her dream.

"Oh, bloody hell, that was a nightmare if I ever saw one…" she noted absently. She then blinked as she thought again about why she was dreaming what she dreamed. She then loudly groaned and grasped her hair, "Uuuuugh, what in blazes is wrong with my mind?! I don't even _like_ French braids!"

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	123. Kapitel 27,1,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorbereitungen**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was as quiet as could be expected in St Gloriana High School's library. That meant that conversations were held to whisper levels wherever possible, to not be so impolite as to interrupt somebody's attempts to study with disturbing chit-chat.

That suited Orange Pekoe well as she strode through the aisles of shelves with purpose. She was looking for a very specific book that she had heard was to arrive that very day in the library. That was why she was presently at the 'New Releases' shelves in the library.

"Now where are you, you little bugger…" she muttered to herself as she passed book after book in the shelves, skimming each one very briefly to determine if it was what she was looking for. "They said it would be here today, so where is it…"

After skimming past several dozen books, Orange Pekoe found one thick book with the title of 'Ultra Compilation of Adages.' "Jackpot!" she quietly cheered upon finding the book. "The latest collection of adages. I better read through this before Darjeeling gets a hold of it…"

Orange Pekoe then reached to grasp the book, but another hand quickly rushed out to grab the book first. The ginger Englishwoman grew momentarily surprised before turning to where the hand had retracted to.

Staring back at her, with that confident, aristocratic grin, was Darjeeling.

' _Oh, you must be sodding me…_ ' Orange Pekoe thought in disbelief. But the deed was done, and Darjeeling had beaten her to the book of adages, so the ginger did her best to put on a pleasantly surprised look and greeted Darjeeling, "Oh, Darjeeling! What a pleasant surprise!" She also did her best to not look like she had only just been reaching for the same book. "What brings you to the library?"

Darjeeling grew a more excitable grin as she walked down the aisles with Orange Pekoe in tow beside her. "I heard that the newest book of sayings was here, so I just _had_ to find it," she revealed.

"Ah, how interesting…" Orange Pekoe politely replied while silently cursing whatever deities that be for her bad luck. ' _If I had only been just a few seconds quicker…_ ' she begrudgingly thought.

Eventually, the two found a large table to sit at. "Good morrow, mates," Darjeeling announced hers and Orange Pekoe's presence to the table's present inhabitants as the two took their seats.

The table was nearly completely covered up with several thick books, courtesy of Arthur, Assam, Douglas, and Dennis, who were already there.

"Hey," Assam, Douglas, and Dennis replied, not paying much attention to anything outside of the books.

"How do you do," Arthur replied simultaneously. He was similarly paying his attentions to the books rather than greeting the two girls.

As all of them were clearly busy scouring the books, Darjeeling decided to leave them be and got a seat at the table alongside Orange Pekoe. She then opened the Ultra Compilation of Adages to begin reading with the ginger Englishwoman.

"Hey, did you know this saying?" Darjeeling periodically spoke up to the ginger beside her whenever she found an interesting saying. "'I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.'"

"I just learned it…" Orange Pekoe deadpanned in the most polite way possible.

Arthur snorted in amusement, having overheard the quote, and spoke up, "Really, Darjeeling?" The Spitfire pilot looked to the blonde Englishwoman, momentarily tearing away from his books. "Quoting Winston Churchill again?"

Darjeeling looked up to face Arthur. "Why, of course," she answered. She then finally decided to ask what was bugging her mind ever since she arrived at the table. "But what on Earth are you blokes up to with all your thick, heavy books?"

"Class assignment," the Spitfire pilot answered as he turned back to his large book. "We have to pick a myth and explain its potential meanings."

"And the bloody instructor just _had_ to forbid the usage of Celtic and Scottish mythology like a true arsehole," Douglas lamented as he flipped a page in his book.

"Ah," Darjeeling nodded, now intrigued by what everyone else was doing as she leaned forward. "And which branches of mythology did you all pick?"

"I picked Greek," Arthur responded. "Dennis picked to do Japanese mythology, and Douglas picked Egyptian. And Assam…" The Spitfire pilot broke into a few chuckles before finally continuing. "God help us, Assam chose to do Norse mythology."

Darjeeling and Orange Pekoe both raised an eyebrow at how amused Arthur was about Assam picking a Norse myth. Neither of them knew why he was. But they decided to drop it, as Orange Pekoe carried on the conversation, "So which of the Egyptian myths did you pick, Douglas?"

"I chose one that talks about the journey of the sun, in this case represented by the god Ra," Douglas answered whilst still scouring his book.

"And what's it about?" Darjeeling asked.

"It's said that Ra, the sun god, passes over the sky and brings light to the Earth, helping bring life to everything on its surface," Douglas began, not interrupting his scouring of his book. "He reaches the peak of his strength at noon and then begins to age as the afternoon goes on. At sunset, he spits out all the other deities he swallowed at sunrise and is supposedly swallowed by the sky goddess Nut, and when the night is upon the world he meets the god of the afterlife, Osiris. The two merge into a single being, with Osiris being always static and Ra living in a constant cycle. After Ra regains all his energy, he then emerges at dawn via Nut who gives birth to him after having swallowed him the previous day. He is effectively a child again, and he swallows the stars again to absorb their power. And that cycle occurred every single day."

"Huh, well that's something…" Darjeeling noted with intrigue. "Though it sounds a bit… I don't know, but it sounds a bit weird for some reason."

Douglas shrugged, "Well, the Egyptian myths were never consistent with each other. In some retellings, Ra is reborn at sunrise as the scarab beetle god Khepri."

"Hm," Orange Pekoe hummed in acknowledgement. She then turned to Dennis. "And what about you, Dennis? What did you pick from the Japanese?"

"I chose the myth of Amaterasu and Susanoo," Dennis answered with a polite smile. Unlike Douglas, he was showing common courtesy and actually holding eye contact with Orange Pekoe whilst answering.

"And what was that one about?" the ginger-haired Englishwoman prompted.

"It deals with the feud between Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and Susanoo, the storm god," the Northern Irishman politely informed. "The two were siblings, both stemming from different body parts of Izanagi, one of the originators of all life. But moving on, Susanoo's wicked behavior had finally gotten to Izanagi, and Izanagi banished him to _Yomi,_ the land of the dead. Susanoo wasn't happy with that, but accepted it anyway. He first decided to take care of some unfinished business before carrying out his exile, so he went to _Takamagahara,_ what they called heaven, to bid farewell to his sister, Amaterasu."

"Now," Dennis continued as he shifted himself in his seat to get more comfortable. "Amaterasu knew that her brother was preparing some kind of mischief, so she commanded him to explain why he came to her. Susanoo said that he wished to say farewell, but Amaterasu didn't believe him and challenged him to try and prove his good faith. The challenge was to see who could create more noble and divine children. Amaterasu created three women from Susanoo's sword, while Susanoo made five men from Amaterasu's ornament chain."

"But both gods had declared themselves the victor," Dennis continued on, getting more into the role of story-telling. "Amaterasu was so insistent in her victory that it drove Susanoo to lash out at her, hurling a half-flayed pony into her weaving hall and killing one of her attendants."

"A half-flayed pony?" Darjeeling interrupted to ask, confused.

"It was an animal that was sacred to Amaterasu," Dennis explained. "But moving on, Amaterasu was angered by the display and disappeared into the cave _Iwayado._ When she did that, darkness enveloped the world. Knowing that the world couldn't suffer through eternal darkness, all the other gods and goddesses tried to coax Amaterasu into coming out, but she ignored them all and continued to sulk. Eventually, Ame-no-Uzume, the kami of mirth, came up with a plan to get Amaterasu out. It consisted of placing a large bronze mirror on a tree, facing Amaterasu's cave, while Uzume clothed herself in flowers and leaves. She then overturned a tub and began dancing on it. Eventually, she shed the leaves and flowers and continued to dance stark naked."

Arthur snorted heavily at that point, to which Dennis stopped to glare at him for a second before he continued on, "And, as Arthur was likely to do, all of the male gods laughed their arses off at Uzume's nude dancing, which caused Amaterasu to grow curious of the commotion. She peeked outside, and after a ray of light called 'dawn' escaped, Amaterasu was blinded by the beautiful goddess she had seen. That goddess was herself, being her reflection in the mirror against the tree. Then Ameno-Tajikarawo, another god, pulled her from the cave, and the cave itself was sealed off with a _shimenawa._ Amaterasu's depression disappeared after she was surrounded by the merriment that surfaced from Uzume's dancing, and the sun goddess then decided to return with her light. After then, Uzume was known as the kami of dawn as well as the kami of mirth."

"Wow…" Darjeeling noted, very much intrigued by the myth.

"What a unique interpretation," Orange Pekoe complimented with a polite smile. She then turned to Arthur. "Now what about you, Arthur? Which of the famous Greek myths did you pick?"

The English Spitfire pilot shrugged lazily. "I just went with the series of family betrayals that dominated the Greek creation myths," he said without any flare, like it was nothing special. He then counted the instances of family betrayal on his hand as he went through them, starting with one. "Gaia convinced her son Cronus to castrate Uranus, his father, after Uranus threw Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires into _Tartarus._ "

Arthur held up another finger to bring the number of fingers he held up to two, "Cronus ate all the children Rhea birthed out of fear of them betraying him like he had done to his own father Uranus, leading to Rhea hiding Zeus and wrapping up a stone in a blanket, which Cronus ate, thinking it was Rhea's newest child. That led to Zeus drugging Cronus, leading him to vomit up the rest of Rhea's children and the stone he had eaten thinking it was Zeus. Zeus then challenged and defeated Cronus in war, throwing Cronus and the rest of the Titans down into _Tartarus._ "

Arthur held up yet another finger, making it three he now held up, "Then Zeus saw a prophecy of the first child of his first wife Metis being even greater than he was, which led to Zeus swallowing Metis to try and prevent the prophecy from passing. But Metis had already conceived, and after some time Zeus grew a massive headache. So one of the gods then cleaved his head with a double-headed Minoan axe, which resulted in Athena leaping from Zeus's head, fully grown, armed, and with a shout of courage."

"Ah, the Greeks…" Orange Pekoe sighed in remembrance of the Greek myths. "In my opinion, Zeus deserved that pain. He was a real arse."

Arthur merely shrugged. "What else to expect from the one who sleeps with literally _everybody?_ " he retorted. "In that light, it's easy to see why-"

"UGH!" Assam interrupted with a disgusted shriek, shoving her book forward like it was on fire. "UGH! UGH!" She then brought her hands to her face and started shaking her head. "Make me forget, _somebody!_ "

"Assam?" Darjeeling asked with a raised eyebrow. In fact, everyone had raised eyebrows, not at all understanding.

Except for Arthur, who was now chuckling heartily and not surprised one bit. "Ah, yes, and then we have the Norse," the Englishman spoke up, now calmed from his chuckle fest. "From the way Assam reacted, I think I can guess which myth she read."

"And that myth was…?" Orange Pekoe prompted, curious as to what myth was responsible for making her friend shriek in such a disgusted manner. It wasn't like Assam to act that way.

"Alright, alright, but beware," Arthur relented, but grew momentarily serious. "You've been warned." He then returned to his usual relaxed, confident attitude as he began the Norse myth. "Now, we have ourselves a story from the beginning of the gods' settlement, when the _Æsir_ had established _Midgard,_ or Earth, and _Valhalla,_ one of the honorable afterlives for those that had been slain in battle."

"Just get on with it already," Douglas impatiently interrupted, leaning against his arm propped up on the table.

"Anyway," Arthur rolled his eyes before continuing with gusto. "There was a builder who offered to build a large wall for the _Æsir,_ but he asked for a very weighty form of payment: the _Vanr_ Freyja, the goddess of beauty; the _Ásynja_ Sól, the sun goddess; and the _Ás_ Máni, the moon god."

"Now," the Englishman brought his hands together, getting very much into the retelling. "Some debating went on back and forth between the gods, but eventually they agreed on the builder's price. However," he was quick to say, bringing in the suspense. "In return, the gods placed restrictions on the builder, the most prominent of which was that he had to complete the wall within three seasons without the help of a single man."

"The builder agreed to those restrictions, but he made one last request," Arthur continued, raising a finger at the time he revealed there was one last request. "He wished to have help from his stallion Svadilfari. Due to the influence of the _Jötunn_ Loki, the god of mischief, that wish was granted."

"But soon enough, the _Æsir_ were kicking themselves for that," Arthur continued on with an amused smile. "Svadilfari proved himself to be at least twice as strong as the builder, easily hauling enormous rocks and setting a fast pace for the progress of the wall's construction. Indeed, the wall was nearly completed three days before the deadline, set for the first day of summer."

"So the gods held an emergency meeting," the Englishman leaned back in his chair and placed his folded hands under his chin. "And through that meeting they tried to figure out who was responsible for this perilous situation. Eventually, they all unanimously agreed that, as with most instances of trouble, this instance was the fault of Loki. So in response, the gods all threatened Loki with a horrible death if he wasn't able to find a way to get the builder to lose their wager."

"And so the god of mischief, understandably valuing his life, swore that he would find a way to get the builder to lose the wager, at any cost necessary," Arthur continued on. He held up a finger. "That in particular is important to note: 'any cost necessary.'" He let his hand drop back down and continued. "Moving on, that night, the builder went out to fetch another rock with Svadilfari, but out from the woods came a mare. The mare neighed at the stallion Svadilfari, and upon realizing what the mare was communicating to him, the stallion became overcome with lust, tearing away from the builder and running off to the mare. The mare ran into the woods, leading Svadilfari to chase after her, and the builder chased after the both of them."

"But the builder could not catch them, and the two horses ran around all night long, halting the builder's progress dead in its tracks," the Englishman continued on, now leaning forth onto the table with his elbows. "So the builder flew into a rage in frustration, and that's when the _Æsir_ realized that he was a _Jötunn,_ their sworn enemy. In that light, they abandoned their previous oaths with the builder and called for the _Ás_ Thor, the thunder god."

"And, well, I think you know how that turned out," Arthur carried on with a foreboding grin. "Thor arrived and smashed the builder's skull with his hammer _Mjölnir,_ killing him instantly. But!" Arthur held up a finger. "Now comes what is perhaps the best part."

The others besides Assam, who already knew what the Englishman was about to divulge, leaned forth, well into the myth.

"The mare that Svadilfari chased after was actually Loki," Arthur revealed after a pause with a grin. At the furrowing of several eyebrows, he quickly added on. "One of his known abilities was that of a shapeshifter. But anyway, the way Loki stalled Svadilfari through the deadline was by rutting with the stallion." Arthur's grin grew even wider with his next statement. "And some time later, still in mare form, Loki birthed the eight-legged horse Sleipnir, the best horse among gods and men."

Assam stood up abruptly, sending her chair screeching back, and immediately walked away from the area as quick as she could. Having to hear that part of the myth again left her wanting to wretch.

Meanwhile, Dennis, Douglas, Orange Pekoe, and even Darjeeling were stunned into silence after hearing the end of the myth. Simply put, they were rendered speechless, particularly by the very quirky ending.

Arthur, however, was enjoying every second of his friends' brains being broken. "Ah, I love the Norse," he remarked in satisfaction. "They were so unbelievably screwed up."

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	124. Kapitel 27,1,3

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Drei: Typisch für Spät-Nacht**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Late at night aboard the _HMS Ark Royal,_ everyone was getting their needed rest after a long day.

Well, maybe not quite _everybody,_ as there were always those people that lived the night life. St Gloriana's students were no exception to that, so it was not uncommon to find some of the British students indulging themselves in whatever forms of mischief they desired. Whether it be some prank or a large bar fight or some pagan ritual, there was never a moment where _everyone_ was asleep aboard the _Ark Royal._

Assam was not one of those people to live the night life. Instead, in the black of night, she was sprawled out over her bed, on her back and in her nightgown, and slept on, the sound of her softly breathing in and out being the only noise within her dorm.

Until she started to snort a bit in her sleep. At first, it was light, but it rapidly grew and threatened to become laughter, which was the point when Assam woke up and shot up into a sitting position.

"PFFFF…!" she tried to conceal her immense giggles by pressing a hand to her mouth, with varying success. "Oh my God, oh my God…" The Brit was still nearly about to burst out into undignified laughter, but was able to miraculously hold it at bay somehow. "J-Just now… Oh my God, I just came up with the best joke EVER! I have to tell someone!"

She began to get up out of bed, to try and tell someone what she just came up with, but after a moment of rational thought, she gave up on that route and remained on her bed. "Ah, but it's too late for any of those blokes to be awake still…" she noted, knowing her comrades' behaviors well enough to come to that conclusion. So she changed gears. "Gah, where the bloody hell is my notepad at?!" Assam then began to look around for her notepad with fervor.

In the darkness of her room, though, it proved to be impossible, and with her laughs threatening to take over her any second, Assam knew she had no time to continue looking. "Aw dammit, just let me get that bloody marker…!" she changed her tactics to look for a marker at least.

After scrounging through the drawers of her bedside nightstand, she soon found a marker. With it, she scribbled down what the source of her impending laughter was about on the back of her hand. It was rough how she wrote it down, only writing three words, but Assam hoped she could remember her new joke by tomorrow just by looking at those three words. In her opinion, it was the funniest joke she had come up with in a long time.

After writing down her joke on her hand, she tossed the marker aside without a care in the world and let her building giggles run free, laughing in the most unglorified way possible from her own mastery of humor. It was enough to laugh her all the way back into sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

By the time the next day came around, Assam was ready to tell her masterpiece of humor to the rest of her mates, choosing to do so over tea time.

Over the course of the morning, she had forgotten her joke thanks to being half-dead like most teenagers in the morning, but that was the reason she decided to write it down the previous night. Even though it was on the back of her hand, at least it was somewhere she could easily refer to.

On the back of her hand, she had only written three words, thinking it would be enough to remind her of the joke. The three words written down were 'Chaos,' 'Death,' and 'Erasers.'

Douglas, Dennis, and Orange Pekoe all subtly rolled their eyes when Assam demonstrated she was ready to tell them another joke. It was no secret amongst them that Assam had the worst sense of humor to ever grace the planet.

Ergo, it was somewhat of a relief to them that Assam was struggling to remember what her joke was. "Gah, what was it…?" she tapped her hand against her forehead, trying to rack her brain for her joke. But it wasn't coming to her. "Bloody hell, why can't I remember?!"

Darjeeling took notice of Assam's hand and the writing on it. "Oh, Assam," she decided to comment on it, not knowing its purpose but intrigued nonetheless. "Are you getting into dark magic?"

"NO!" Assam nearly barked back, frustrated about not remembering her joke. She calmed down a bit, but still was agitated by her forgetting. "I just wanted to tell a joke, but I can't remember it anymore!"

"Ah," Darjeeling tipped her chin up in acknowledgment. She then went back to sipping on her tea. She had kind of lost interest after finding out the writing on Assam's hand wasn't for dark magic.

"I do think that would be interesting, at least," Arthur decided to speak up, setting down his tea in its dish in his hands. "Assam being a _svartálfr._ " Everyone looked to him weirdly, not understanding the foreign word. "A dark elf," he elaborated with a hand gesture.

"UGH!" Assam let out a frustrated grunt, throwing her hands down. "The first good joke I made up in a long time and I just forget it!" She then shook her head and huffed, letting her body relax again. She wasn't at all happy with forgetting her joke, but it was something that did happen nevertheless, so it had to be accepted. "I need a bloody scotch. Maybe I can forget all the embarrassment from this forgetfulness, as well."

"I'll make a note of it," Douglas noted absently. He was the one that had all the scotch amongst the six of them, considering it was a Scottish beverage and he himself was Scottish.

"Well, at least she didn't try to tell that joke about black pigs, meringue, and the one-hundred tales again," Dennis dryly muttered in gratitude of not having to experience Assam's notoriously horrible sense of humor.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 _ **XXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	125. Kapitel 27,1,4

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Vier: Immer schauen**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The sun shined with a vibrant intensity over the _Zuikaku_ sailing in the vast Pacific, and it was obvious that the heat wave that was brought along with sailing in the tropics would be an intensive exercise for the students of Ooarai High School in maintaining their cool. Literally.

That was especially true for the tank crews and aircrews of Ooarai's Arts of Warfare programs, with the extremely unfriendly and scalding hot metal interiors of the tanks. The cockpits of the fighters were no better, as all but the open-cockpit Ki-10 suffered from the greenhouse effect thanks to their glass canopies, and all bar the Me 163 and Me 410 had an engine just in front of the cockpits that radiated no small amount of heat from their generation of power.

Such extreme heat explained a great deal as to why all of the crews chose to suit up in much lighter clothing, forgoing the traditional school uniforms as well as the dedicated uniforms each branch had. That much was obvious when the eight tanks belonging to Ooarai came back to the hangars after another practice, as all hatches on all tanks were deliberately left open during the drive back in an effort to allow the heat in the interior of the tanks to circulate out and bring in fresh, cool air.

"If I ever had a reason to not come to this school, it would be because of the heat waves," Miho noted the present heat to herself as she stood out of her commander's hatch on her _Panzer_ IV H that, by Mako's hands and feet, drove back to the hangars last. The light brunette was one of the more extreme examples of wearing light clothing, choosing a short skirt, white in color, and a light yellow tank top that she had bunched one portion of to cause it to ride up, exposing a sizable section of her midriff.

A little known fact about the younger of the Nishizumi sisters was how unused to the heat she was. Where she came from originally in Weissach, Germany, temperatures were never this hot, and there was never such an extreme amount of humidity, either. Ergo, she was nowhere near as fond of the heat as her other friends were. Oh, she could tolerate it if it was a necessity. There was no questioning what she could do whenever it was absolutely necessary. But if she had a choice in the matter, she would prefer cooler temperatures rather than blazing heat.

Upon the _Panzer_ IV's approaching of the hangars, Miho noticed something out of place amongst the lineup of fighters. They had all landed beforehand and every single one that had a canopy had that canopy opened. It was the black-tulip-decorated fighter that made her stop for a bit. "Wait, halt here for a minute," she requested Mako, and following her commander's instructions, the relatively stoic tank driver halted the _Panzer._

After watching and staying silent for a few seconds, Miho eventually let out an exasperated groan. "Ugh, of course he would take advantage of that," she muttered, eyes narrowing at Ooarai's one and only Bf 109 K-4. The rest of her crew, excluding the driver, looked towards where their commander's gaze pointed to, and they soon understood the cause of the light brunette's irritation.

Miho was honestly jealous of Erich's Bf 109 right now, reason being that said _Messer_ could mount a sun umbrella in two brackets mounted on the left side of the fuselage just outside the cockpit, under where the canopy met with the fuselage. And of course, relaxed in the cockpit and taking full advantage of the shade offered by the specially designed _Sonderwerkzeug_ was the blond-haired ultra-ace himself, as lazy as he always was while his ground crew did their tasks.

But that jealousy was quickly dissuaded when Miho got a really good look at Erich and noted how he wasn't wearing anything on his upper body, for, she guessed, the same reason as her own extreme choice of clothes: to beat the heat.

The blonde was never one to have a large build to his stature, being much more lean-built, but Miho knew from experience that he didn't need such buff to him in order to win a hand-to-hand fight. He was lithe and agile, but also sharp, and was capable of deducing an enemy's weak points in the blink of an eye. That combination made for a devastatingly effective fighting style that was much the same way he preferred to fight in the air: strike hard and fast, but most importantly, strike with the element of surprise, where the enemy least expected.

That aspect – the one where he could take down much larger opponents with such a lean build – was, in Miho's opinion, the most attractive part of Erich's raw body. The little build he did have was not obvious, which was something the light brunette remembered as the cause of many people underestimating his abilities back at Schwarzwaldspitze. Even Miho herself had fallen prey to Erich's seemingly underwhelming physique in the times they had sparred against each other when they were going through Schwarzwaldspitze's rigorous training regimen. And those spars were quite intense: the only reason the two of them went up against each other was because they had both cleaned out the rest of the opposition on their respective sides. Well, and for curiosity's sake.

The two didn't do much in the way of sparring nowadays at Ooarai, as their duties as commanders often occupied too much of Miho's time to allow such activities. It did not occupy Erich's time, but that was only because he was too goddamn lazy to do his own work, leaving Miho to take it up for him and effectively double her own duties.

But whenever Miho got a look at that body of his, she would always feel her insides turn to mush upon remembering exactly what Erich could do with that lean body. And that was exactly what happened this instance. She grew a daydreaming face as she stared across the way at him, absently imagining various scenarios she could undertake with that body draped all over her in some way, shape, or form.

Saori, Hana, and Yukari all took notice of the 'not all there but I don't care because goddammit just _look_ at that gorgeous body' expression on Miho's face, but only Saori was certain of what it meant, and she silently chuckled.

"Is she doing it again?" Mako asked from the driver's post. She was unable to see Miho's face from down there, which made her wonder if her commander was even mentally present to give orders. She took a wild guess as to why, guessing if Miho was distracted by Erich again.

Saori's silent chuckling became a brief giggle before she looked down to Mako. "Yep," she answered with a big grin on her face. "She's doing it again."

"Ugh," Mako rolled her eyes in exasperation. So her guess _was_ correct. "Can I just drive on and bring her back by breaking her line of sight with him?"

Both Hana and Yukari shrugged, neither of them having any reason to offer a counter, but Saori shook her head and balked at Mako's suggestion, "What? No! Can't you see what this is? This is true love at play here, and I will not let you ruin it with your impatience!"

"Okay, gotcha," Mako responded as she shifted into first gear, afterwards planting the throttle to the floor and just a split-second later dumping the clutch, accelerating the _Panzer_ away under full load anyway, despite Saori's protest and continuing to go through the gears without a care for Saori's romantic fantasies. She didn't really care about them. In fact, she could honestly do with less of them.

"Hey-wait, _Mako!_ " Saori loudly complained when she felt the _Panzer_ lurch forward, her body protesting the sudden lurch as well. After recovering, she looked to her best friend. "Dammit Mako, why do you have to be so insensitive to true love?!"

Hana and Yukari both silently laughed at Saori and Mako's humorous interactions. It was always amusing to see what the two of them would be like on any given day.

XXXXXXXXXX

Further down the line of Ooarai's fighters, Yeager hopped down from his crew's one-of-a-kind Me 163 after it was towed back off the makeshift airstrip by its specified _Scheuch-Schlepper_ two-wheel tractor with the special retrieval trailer. This Me 163 in particular had started out as a basic B-1a model, but was modified to the specifications of the Me 163B V18, which most notably used a twin-chamber rocket motor that, with both chambers burning all-out, could allow a top speed of over 700 miles per hour.

And Yeager was very willing to push the _Komet_ to those speeds despite the danger of shedding off the skin of the aircraft in the process. But he momentarily forgot about such endeavors when he got a load of Brown, who was just like Erich in the sense that he had also gone bare-chested for the very hot day.

"Oh, for fuck-what the hell, Brown?" Yeager raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance. It was always the Brit amongst the foursome of amateur aero engineers that stood out in not very pleasing ways.

Brown raised an eyebrow in response to Yeager's rather blunt inquiry. "What?" he asked, clueless.

"Dude, get a damn shirt on or something!" Yeager waved a hand at Brown's body in emphasis.

Upon noticing what the American was raving about, the Brit came back with his own retort, "But it's bloody hot out. And nobody harps on the Squadron Leader for that."

Yeager rolled his eyes as he mentally restrained himself from causing a scene. "That's different," he explained. "It's practically _expected_ of Hartmann to do shit like that." He then pointed at Brown. "It's _not_ for you, though."

Brown was ready to come up with another retort, when Dittmar interjected. "Hey, guys," he noted, with a bit of an urgent look on his face. Reitsch was beside him constantly shooting glances at the Me 163 further behind the two quarrelers. "Aren't we forgetting something?"

Both the American and the Brit turned to attempt to tell him to shut up, but they were again interrupted, and rather spectacularly too, as the Me 163 spontaneously blew up, _again,_ and burst into flames after the abrupt yet forceful explosion.

Both of the two Germans in the group grew annoyed looks at Yeager and Brown, who turned to the burning mass that was the Me 163. At seeing the _Komet_ had inexplicably blown up yet again, Yeager let out a weary sigh. Both he and Brown dropped their quarrel from mind and got back into the routine they had drawn up for whenever the Me 163 burst into flames.

The reason both Reitsch and Dittmar had grown annoyed was because the group was supposed to thoroughly hose down the entirety of the rocket engine and its fuel and oxidizer systems immediately after the aircraft had been brought back to the hangars. They could not do so, however, because of the two Anglosphere members of their group getting caught up in a rather petty argument.

"Let's get the extinguishers…" Yeager announced with a weary tone. He, and likely the other three aeronautically-minded people he knew as well, were well used to the _Komet_ blowing up on them, as it happened a lot more often than one would think, meaning that unlike the other Arts of Warfare members who had reacted as if a bomb had gone off, the aeronautics group were not at all surprised to see the rocket-engined aircraft have its most frustrating flaw happen again, their unfazed reactions being highly anticlimactic.

That was a particularly troublesome flaw with the rocket-powered aircraft, as its fuel and oxidizer were very hypergolic with each other while the systems to hold those very toxic chemicals were fitted with simple metal lines and fittings, which made the whole aircraft a disaster waiting to happen. That reason, as well as the corrosive nature of the chemicals, was why the fuel and oxidizer delivery systems had to be thoroughly hosed down as much as possible.

And so, the entirety of the Me 163's crew learned a valuable lesson that day: when dealing with something like the Me 163 – a time bomb without a fuze, for all intents and purposes – it's simply best to do everything possible to keep it from blowing up in everyone's faces, and then worry about everything else later, as getting sidetracked during that task has very destructive consequences.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	126. Kapitel 27,1,5

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Fünf: Kaninchentanz**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"So," Erich began as he looked around the area before the hangars, looking a bit lost as to why he had to be there. He was standing beside Miho, who was far calmer than the restless blonde beside her. "You want to tell me why we're all gathered here, again?"

Everyone that was a part of the two Arts of Warfare programs for Ooarai High School was gathered together at the hangars upon special request. Every last one of them was there, including Erich's group of misfits, Miho's band of blood sisters, the rather diverse and clashing set of Student Council personalities, the muscle-heads that were the former Volleyball Club, the equally-former and equally-barbaric Badminton Team, the stuck-in-the-past history buffs, the young but talented football-playing first years, the overly strict and pedantic Public Morals Committee, the circle of beyond-addicted gamers, the reckless motorheads of the Automotive Club, and the public safety hazard that was the Aeronautics Club.

All of the tank crews and ground crews were present along with all the pilots. The only group that was missing was the group of first-year girls, whose whereabouts were unknown to all but a few.

"Apparently," Miho began with an air of calmness, which was the opposite of Erich's present restlessness. "The girls of _Rabbit_ Team wanted to show us something."

"And that is…?" Erich asked back with his head tilted sideways in wonder.

The light brunette girl simply shrugged with a small mysterious smile. "They didn't say," she elaborated.

The blonde huffed and turned his head upward to the sky, silently begging the gods that be to have mercy on him. Because just standing there was the purest form of torture, what with how boring it was.

Miho saw this and had to hold back the need to giggle. It was very amusing to her right now just how much Erich resembled a child with his actions. Really, it wasn't surprising to her in the least bit: Erich had always been a child at heart, even when Miho herself had grown up during their still-ongoing adolescence.

Her attention, along with everyone else's, was drawn to the hangar doors when the telltale sound of them sliding open was heard. With the doors opened, all six members of _Rabbit_ Team stepped forth out of them, in plain view of everybody else as they all stood line abreast. The only difference between them and everyone else was their present outfit: while everyone else wore what they normally wore during the school day, the _Rabbit_ Team girls had all donned a pink skin-tight suit that had a fluffy rabbit tail just above their behinds, along with a set of bunny ears on their heads, also pink. All of the first-year girls also had in each hand a large kitchen knife.

The stares that everyone directed at them were so stupefied and prominent that the staring could likely be felt even from orbit. At this point, Miho nearly lost control over herself after recognizing that the outfit was similar to what she had worn to perform the Anglerfish Dance, a dance that was still plaguing in her mind via some very unpleasant flashbacks. The dance itself was a trigger to her, and a really reactive trigger, too, as Erich could attest to.

For the blonde himself, he was actually rather indifferent to the outfits, despite how provocative they appeared with how tightly they clung to each of the girls. His source of surprise was the implication that there were more dances like the Anglerfish Dance, something that, while he enjoyed using it to draw out the exquisite combination of Miho's ire, embarrassment, and libido all put together, he would honestly never expect to catch on otherwise. But he was wrong, it seemed.

And that's when the music started. The tune was outwardly similar to the tune used for the Anglerfish Dance, though it was tweaked a bit for the _Rabbit_ Team's use now.

 _Usasa!  
Usasa!  
Usasa!  
Usa!_

The first portion – the ' _Usasa, Usasa_ ' part – was similar to the Anglerfish Dance's opening moves, though it was modified slightly using the kitchen knives. The main change was using the knife in place of a hand and slightly swinging that downward instead via a slow-paced flick of the wrist. Everything else was otherwise identical to the Anglerfish Dance.

That motion was repeated after the second line transitioning to the ' _Usasa, Usa_ ' part, but this time to the other side, requiring a quick twisting jump one-eighty degrees to face their left. The twisting jump was seamless, not affecting the rhythm at all.

 _U-sasa!  
U-sasa!  
U-sa-sa!_

For the next two lines – the ' _U-sasa, U-sasa_ ' part – things changed a bit. The first portion was effectively repeated as they all jumped and twisted to face back to their right, but this time the girls used both knives and brought them up to their heads, making pseudo-horns with them. When the ' _U_ ' part came along, the girls would all slightly jerk the knives upwards a bit higher before returning them back down. In time with the ' _sasa_ ' part, the knives were all dipped downwards with a quick flick of the wrists, one dip per ' _sa._ '

The next line – ' _U-sa-sa_ ' – was quite fast-paced. For the ' _U_ ' part, the girls all jumped and twisted one-eighty degrees back the other way, while again flicking their wrists to dip their knives in a downward motion, still keeping them in the horns position. For the first ' _sa,_ ' they jumped and twisted one-eighty degrees again, and they repeated the flick of the wrists again. The second ' _sa_ ' was identical, with another one-eighty degree twist and flick of the wrists.

It was quite the unique dance, one that both Anton and Saori instantly approved of if their cheers were anything to go by.

"HELL YEAH!" Anton roared in approval, raising a fist with similar vigor. "YOU RULE, GIRLS!"

"AWESOME!" Saori cheered quite loudly, like a cheerleader in a vague, twisted sense. "YOU'RE THE BEST, GIRLS!"

It was no surprise that the blonde American and ginger Japanese girl cheered so heavily for the first-year girls: the two of them both loved them dearly. The relationship they all had was much like family, in a twisted way.

The first-year boys, on the other hand, were starved for a reaction, simply because they were rendered speechless by the first-year girls' act. Of all of them, only Matthias outwardly showed that he was flustered by the girls' very figure-hugging outfits, as evidenced when the football he was dribbling with his feet – a _real_ football, not one of those over-glorified rugby balls the Americans like to call a football – in an attempt to keep it in the air for as long as possible, was sent higher than normal out of surprise from one kick and bonked him on his head when it came back down. The others were either completely clueless as to what was going on, or, in the case of Bastian, had no opinion on the matter.

"Aren't the knives a bit much, though?" Hana wondered, still holding a peaceful smile even though it was by no means an appropriate expression.

Herz heard the _Panzer_ IV gunner and simply quirked an eyebrow up at her. He found the question ironic considering he had been carrying around his compound bow and quiver, filled with arrows, all day and had gotten no extra attention because of it. To illustrate his point, he took an arrow and pointedly nocked it into the bow he held at the ready in his other hand.

Hana noticed the point the nomad Prussian archer was making and amended, "Your point has been received."

The history buffs had mixed reactions: some of them had blank faces while others had faces filled with intrigue.

One of the blank-faced buffs, Wolf, noticed the intrigued buffs, and he immediately commanded, " _Nein._ " It was a simple command, but it carried all the meaning he needed.

"Please, by Odin's beard, do _not_ come up with a Hippo Dance…" Gustav, another of the blank-faced buffs, deadpanned upon seeing the faces of intrigue in Caesar and Oryou's faces.

And then there were Miho and Erich's reactions. Miho immediately turned away and buried her face into the blonde's neck as she started having Anglerfish Dance flashbacks. If she had known that this was what the _Rabbit_ Team girls wanted to show them all, then she never would've allowed it to happen. But, as she had learned over the years, hindsight is twenty-twenty.

Erich, on the other hand, was not terribly affected by the dance as he instinctively enclosed his arms around the relapsing light brunette. Instead, he furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that word being repeated in the song, with varying voice inflections and timings. "What the devil does ' _Usasa_ ' mean?" he muttered, lost.

Miho let out a slightly annoyed groan at the blonde's timely question, as she didn't wish to hear anything having to do with that dance, but since Erich's lack of comprehension of the Japanese tongue had reared itself again, she was effectively obligated to answer. " _Usa,_ " she corrected, still keeping her face buried into the crook of his neck. "And it's short for _Usagi,_ which means the same thing as _Kaninchen…_ "

Erich raised his eyebrows and hummed in understanding, making the connection that the word was really just another way of saying 'rabbit.' He then thought nothing more of it and simply stood there with his arms around his longest friend and lover. Personally, if he had it his way, he would set the dance to Sabaton's _Man of War,_ just to see what would happen. But nowadays he didn't much get his way thanks to the light brunette minx in his arms, who always got _her_ way instead.

Not that he minded, though.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	127. Kapitel 27,1,6

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Sechs: Unter den Fingernägeln**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The hangars belonging to Pravda were idle, to put it succinctly. There was only a little bit of activity in them when dusk rolled around, and most of it was centralized around one particular Russian tank.

Katyusha was minding her own business sitting atop the sideways-turned turret of one of the many T-34-85s Pravda had at their disposal. The particular Russian tank happened to be the one she regularly commanded. She was reading out of a book she was gifted via Darjeeling. In true Darjeeling fashion, it was a book on sayings. The miniature Russian's face scrunched up adorably in confusion upon reading one saying in particular.

"'Drink the brewed dirt from underneath the fingernails…?'" she read aloud, not at all understanding the adage. "Well, this is the last time I accept a gift from Darjeeling…" she muttered to herself. Following that was what Katyusha did every time she didn't understand something: she turned and called on Nonna to explain it. "Nonna! What does this mean?!"

"No need to use your outside voice, Katyusha," Nonna reminded the diminutive Russian. Nonna was squatting on the back of the T-34 with Nudelmann, right behind the turret ring and not far from Katyusha, as each one of them held one of Sasha's legs. Sasha himself was hanging upside down into the front end of the open engine bay, hanging down ahead of the front of the massive 38.9-liter V-2 diesel-fueled V12 engine. He was doing the egregious task of changing out all of the pumps mounted on the oil sump, that being the water pump, the low-pressure fuel pump, and three oil pumps, two scavenging and one pressure. The egregious part of doing such a task laid with the fact that all of those pumps were on the bottom of the sump, which was at the bottom of the engine. It wasn't so bad, though, considering that much of the front of the engine, consisting of many accessory driveshafts for the oil pumps, water pump, and the fuel pumps, was taken apart, leaving just enough space for the blonde Russian engineer to reach the bottom of the sump. He had a flashlight shining around the area, held in between his lips, meaning that with a little observance, it was possible to see the light beam flick in various directions with every twitch of his lips.

Katyusha paid no mind to the struggle that Sasha was undergoing just to keep her T-34 up and running, and practically thrust her open book into Nonna's face. "Nonna, stop fretting over insignificant things and just tell me what this phrase means!" she practically commanded. The childish voice she had was enough to make anyone else laugh at her, though.

"I can't do that if the book is shoved all the way in my face," Nonna deadpanned at Katyusha's insistence.

"Up!" Sasha's voice echoed from the bottom of the engine bay, a bit distorted and slanted towards vowels in pronunciation thanks to the flashlight in between his lips. In answering, both Nudelmann and Nonna tightened their holds on each of the blonde Russian's legs and stood up, partially lifting Sasha back out of the engine bay enough to allow him to bring one of his hands out of the darkness of the engine bay. It was nearly completely covered in thick oily residue. "Someone hand me that damn ratchet with the 12 and short extension on it!" His hand made a grabbing motion as he said it.

Katyusha's impatience forced her to find the needed tool amidst the set lying atop the turret and chucking it down past Sasha's hand, into the engine bay itself. A solid bonk was heard, followed by a metallic clanging.

"Ow!" was Sasha's reaction as his hand fled into the engine bay to massage his head, which was just impacted by the ratchet with extension. Said tool then had clattered to the bottom floor of the engine bay. "Who did that?!"

Both Nonna and Nudelmann, while finding Katyusha's antics to be vastly immature, had to admit that they were impressed with the diminutive Russian's accuracy, particularly in how Katyusha managed to hit him on the head without even looking like she was trying.

"Shut up, Sasha, and just keep working!" Katyusha silenced the blonde Russian engineer. "I expect this thing to be up and at it by dawn!"

"Keep doing that and there won't be anyone left to do this for you anymore!" Sasha argued back, not at all intimidated by Katyusha, even though he was the one hanging upside down at the mercy of Nonna and Nudelmann. He knew his talents as a mechanic were very useful to Katyusha, and that they were as valuable as gold, considering Pravda had equipment that was prone to breaking down more often than the equipment of other nations' schools. "Down!"

At the cue, both Nudelmann and Nonna crouched back down into a squat, fully lowering Sasha back into the engine bay once again.

"So, Katyusha," Nudelmann spoke up nonchalantly, getting back onto the subject. "What was that saying you wanted to know about?"

Katyusha's gaze diverted over to the tall Russian fighter ace, forgetting all about her quarrel with Sasha after hearing him speak words that interested her. "Oh, yes!" she affirmed. The diminutive Russian then held up the open book so Nudelmann could see and pointed to a specific saying. "It's this one: 'Drink the brewed dirt from underneath the fingernails.'"

"Ah, I believe I heard Miho say that before," Nudelmann nodded in remembrance. At Katyusha's quirking eyebrow, he explained. "She knows Japanese."

The diminutive Russian blinked in surprise. "Wait, she _does?_ " she asked, not entirely believing the young German girl knew a language as unique as Japanese.

"Yeah," Nudelmann nodded. "From what she was willing to divulge, she apparently has a Japanese lineage that was abruptly cut off early on during the war in China, with the last Nishizumi perishing during that time. Yet, after the war during the mid-50s, the name somehow resurfaced in Germany, of all places."

"How does _that_ work?" Katyusha asked with her head tilted to the side. This was information she had never heard before: knowing that Miho, and by association Maho, had a past Japanese lineage was perhaps the last thing she would have ever expected to hear with the way both of them spoke.

"She wasn't willing to say much on that part, but I would guess the NKVD had a hand in it," Nonna guessed.

"The NKVD?" Katyusha wondered. She knew of Stalin's secret police well enough, but this aspect of it was new to her. Nonna was about to explain when Sasha's voice echoed from down below again.

"Up!" Sasha requested. On cue, Nudelmann and Nonna tightened their grip on the blonde Russian and stood up again, lifting the engineer partly out of the darkness again. Sasha's blackened hand emerged from darkness, stretched open awaiting another item to be handed to him. "Fuel pump."

Seeing that the other two Russians had their hands full – literally, as they each held Sasha up by his legs – Katyusha grabbed the vane-type low-pressure fuel pump off the turret and handed it to the upside-down blonde Russian ace.

"Down," Sasha commanded after he took the fuel pump. Again, Nudelmann and Nonna squatted down, lowering the mechanic back down into the engine bay again to let him do his thing.

"So, Nonna, you were saying?" Katyusha prompted as she took a seat on the hull, legs dangling down into the engine bay.

"Hm?" the IS-2 gunner raised an eyebrow before realization dawned. "Oh, right. The NKVD had operated within China during the early part of the Second Sino-Japanese War, clandestinely offering support to the Chinese communists. It wouldn't surprise me if they hid away any information on any captured Japanese soldiers and simply threw them in a gulag to rot. To the rest of the world, those who were captured were considered as good as dead with that lack of information."

"Uh-huh…" the miniature Russian nodded slowly in understanding, filling in the deliberately open-ended response herself. "That surviving Nishizumi must've been one hell of a bad-ass to be able to survive that long in a gulag…" she muttered to herself, impressed. Katyusha then shook her head. "But, wait a minute. What does _Mihosha_ having Japanese ancestry have to do with that saying?"

"It has to do with how that saying is Japanese in origin," Nudelmann supplied.

" _Da,_ " Nonna nodded in agreement. "It's a metaphor for following in someone's footsteps." Katyusha raised an eyebrow in confusion, and Nonna further explained. "You see, drinking the dirt underneath the fingernails of an extraordinary person was considered to be like…" The IS-2 gunner tried to think of how to accurately phrase it. "Like acquiring their essence, if that makes sense. To receive the same traits as that extraordinary person had. So you could end up just like them." The tall black-haired Russian grew a thoughtful expression. "If I remember right, I believe Miho used that saying to refer to how she had grown to be able to make friends just as easily as Erich. Something to do with her eventually overcoming a strong case of shyness thanks to him, particularly in her association with him."

"Hmm…" the diminutive Russian hummed in thought. ' _So if I drink the dirt underneath the fingernails of someone tall, then maybe I can grow tall, too…_ ' was her line of thought.

"Up!" Sasha's voice echoed from the deep, dark engine bay of the T-34-85. Nonna and Nudelmann again rechecked their grip on the blonde Russian's legs before standing up again to pull him out partway once more. "Water pump," he requested next, with his heavily-oiled hand coming up to await the requested item.

Sasha was not an excessively tall person, but compared to Katyusha, he was quite tall. Well, okay, _everyone_ was tall in comparison to the diminutive Russian girl, but she figured that the idea of acquiring an extraordinary person's essence would still apply even if tallness wasn't their definitive trait. Her line of thought was that his tallness would also migrate along with his other talents. So when she saw one of his hands appear, Katyusha saw her opportunity and leaned forth, taking one of Sasha's fingers into her mouth and started to lightly suck on it.

"Ooh-ho-ho-hoo…" the blonde Russian ace moaned in a mixture of surprise and pleasure at the sensation of soft, warm lips lightly sucking on one of his fingers. It was very unexpected, but it felt good, too. He couldn't see what the source of such gentleness and warmth enclosed around one of his fingers was since his head was still hanging down pretty deep in the engine bay.

Nonna was quite the opposite, her face laced with shock and a barely noticeable amount of disgust, at how unsanitary Katyusha was being as well as the obvious pleasure being vocalized by the blonde Russian ace. With the benefit of hindsight, she thought it would've been a better idea to just remain quiet. Now, because of what was happening, she couldn't get the image of her best friend pleasuring one of her other friends out of her head.

Nudelmann wasn't surprised that Katyusha had actually tried out what the saying said for herself, but he _was_ surprised at how she chose to do such a thing with Sasha's fingernails. He had kind of figured that she would pick his own fingernails to try that with, seeing as her desire to be taller was no secret, and how one of Nudelmann's defining traits was his height. Plus, he secretly wanted that kind of pleasure, too.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oooh-ho-ho-hoo…" was what Nina and Alina heard when they entered the hangar, for the purpose of locating their superiors. Hearing the moaning voice of Sasha was something they did not expect, but being where they were at the big doors, they couldn't see what was causing him to make such noises.

"Huh, it sounds like _Komandir Sotni_ Sasha's in a good mood tonight…" Nina observed.

" _Da,_ " Alina nodded in agreement, though she was a bit confused, too. "I guess something good happened…?"

The two underclassmen were pure-minded, so they wouldn't have made the connection that more dirty minds would have made upon hearing such delectable noises. Such was youthful innocence.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 ** _XXXXXXXXXX_**

 ** _The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to_** **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	128. Kapitel 27,1,7

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Sieben: Harte Maßnahmen**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Kiev,_ it was not uncommon to see some… _strange_ occurrences. After all, it _was_ a Russian ship, inhabited by Russians, who were famous over the Internet for being some of the strangest people on the planet. With those parameters, it was nearly guaranteed that something odd and ridiculously out-of-place would occur at any given time.

But when some of the members of Pravda's Arts of Warfare programs went to the ad-hoc airstrip that day, they were in for a real treat with regards to strange Russian phenomena.

"Um…" Ivan, the short-statured I-16 pilot, looked on at what was going on with a greatly confused and lost expression. "… Just what the heck is going on here?"

He was greatly puzzled by the fact that there was a large human centrifuge – not unlike those used to train cosmonauts for sustained high-g experiences – set up on the airstrip proper and spinning at a respectable speed.

Klara and Alexei were there as well, and at Ivan's inquiry, Alexei saw fit to explain. " _Kapitan_ Katyusha said she was using centrifugal force to try and get taller," he divulged as the three watched the large Soviet-era centrifuge spinning at an impressive speed with the one and only Katyusha aboard.

Inside the podded end chamber of the centrifuge, Katyusha was tightly gripping a pole on the inside with her legs. With how the pole was mounted – nearer to the center of rotation than Katyusha herself – the diminutive Russian was being flung outward as the machine rotated, and it was hoped that this would help Katyusha get taller. The logic was that the laws of physics couldn't be broken, so the plan was seen as foolproof. Although, Katyusha wasn't afraid to admit that her thighs were burning right about now, what with how tightly she had to wrap her legs around the pole.

"Where did _that_ thing even come from in the first place?" Ivan asked, gesturing with a hand to the human centrifuge, which was still spinning with a stable hum and periodic whoosh every time the chamber came past. It wasn't terribly surprising, honestly, for a situation like this to surface. Ivan was more concerned with how something like a human centrifuge found its way aboard the _Kiev_ and into the usable hands of Katyusha.

"I believe it was something Sasha found while looking through the storage facilities below deck," Klara recalled with a finger to her lips. She then removed her finger and smiled in amusement. "And, well, you know how the _Komandir Sotni_ is when he gets a new toy to play with. _Kapitan_ Katyusha simply decided to take advantage of that and have him utilize it on her."

Indeed, it was Sasha at the controls for the centrifuge. He, along with Nonna and Nudelmann, were positioned along one side of the airstrip in a small temporary booth, where Sasha had control of the machine while the other two taller Russians were there as assistance. It was a well-known habit of Sasha's that he liked to play around with the machines he found, just for the hell of it.

"Supposedly, that particular one was originally used for cosmonaut training back when the Soviet space program was still around," Alexei chose to further explain as he, Klara, and Ivan remained mesmerized by the spinning centrifuge. "Pravda had actually played a part in the program, having provided prospective cosmonauts a chance to gain experience at an earlier age than what was otherwise possible. Hence why we have one of those things here."

"And then I assume the collapse forced Pravda to shelve all of their cosmonaut training?" Klara guessed, referring to the 1991 collapse of the Soviet government that hammered the nail into the coffin for communism in Eastern Europe, and subsequently resulted in mass poverty and crime throughout the region from a lack of a stable economy.

" _Da,_ " Alexei confirmed with a nod. "There was no point in having the program around any longer considering there was hardly any money for living, let alone anything of that extravagance. So Pravda shelved everything from before down into storage below decks, including items from other programs that were also cut after the collapse."

"Huh," Ivan hummed in acknowledgment. "I didn't know that…" The I-16 pilot then thought for a bit, and then asked another question. "Wait a minute, how do you know all that?"

Alexei shrugged. "Sasha told me," was all he said, as if it was the answer to everything.

After another moment of thought, Ivan shrugged in a dismissive manner, figuring that Sasha would be the kind of person to do such in-depth research. He was someone who liked learning for the sake of learning, most preferably in a hands-on way.

Then, completely randomly, the end chamber on the still-spinning centrifuge separated abruptly from the boom. That resulted in the pod that Katyusha was inside veering away in a straight line after the separation, down the airstrip, luckily. The remainder of the centrifuge spun notably faster now that the radius of its rotation arc was smaller, and it spun at that speed until the shocked-frozen Sasha snapped out of his stupor and shut down power to the machine, the centrifuge's rotational speed beginning to gradually slow down in response to entering its cooldown period. Nudelmann and Nonna were similarly frozen with shock, as was Ivan, with eyes wide at the dramatic complication.

" _Ukh…_ " Klara winced, imagining the pain Katyusha must be in by now as the pod roughly tumbled down the dirt airstrip.

" _Da uzh, eto yavno bylo bol'no..._ " Alexei commented on how it definitely looked painful to be within that pod, also wincing.

Over by the booth, Sasha, Nudelmann, and Nonna had all stepped outside and walked a bit down the airstrip as they watched the pod come to a stop.

Sasha raised his eyebrows and abruptly yet awkwardly said, "Ah-yes, I just remembered that I have to go and… make another modification to the _Ishak,_ so I'll see you later!" He then ran off, hoping to not be the one to suffer Katyusha's, admittedly well-deserved, wrath. Though to be fair, he _had_ performed an inspection on the centrifuge beforehand and had not recommended utilizing it since, for one, it had been sitting for some time without use, and two, was a Soviet piece of equipment. And like all Soviet equipment, it was not something to rely on. But Katyusha didn't listen and insisted on utilizing it anyway for this latest plan of hers to get taller.

"And I must go and assist him," Nudelmann claimed, using his oft-recognized place as Sasha's assistant to get out of having to be the one to get Katyusha out of the pod. He then ran off after Sasha, leaving Nonna as the only one there.

The IS-2 gunner narrowed her eyes at the fleeing pair of Russian boys. "Traitors…" she muttered, clearly understanding that they meant to give her the short straw this time. The tall, raven-haired Russian girl looked back further down the airstrip where the centrifuge's separated pod had come to rest and nervously gulped. "Well, here goes nothing… Please don't be too mad, Katyusha…"

XXXXXXXXXX

After getting her out and helping her heal, Nonna measured Katyusha's height once again.

"Well, it appears that you lost two centimeters…" the IS-2 gunner revealed, trying to smile but appearing suitably nervous of how Katyusha would react.

The more diminutive Russian was boiling in anger, face flushed red with fury at her plan backfiring so horribly on her. "I want you to find Sasha…" she slowly spoke, clearly conveying just how pissed she was and how close she was to completely losing her cool. "And send him to _Gulag._ "

Nonna stepped back as calmly as she could, swallowing thickly with dread, knowing that this was an order from Yekaterina, the heavy-handed leader of Pravda, and not Katyusha, the child-like best friend of Nonna. " _Tak tochno, tovarishch kapitan,_ " the IS-2 gunner responded affirmative after an unsure pause, almost forgetting to salute in the process. She only remembered to do so after a second, before she walked off, silently hoping that the diminutive blonde would calm down and not do something she would regret by the time Nonna found Sasha and Nudelmann.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_

 _ **Special thanks to**_ **ChillingComrade _for his Russian expertise._**


	129. Kapitel 27,1,8

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Acht: Das Bedürfnis zu überleben**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Somewhere in the middle of the woods, a small campfire was crackling within a small clearing, providing the only light source for miles around in the dead of night. Hanging over the fire was a small metal container, capped.

Soon enough, the container was lifted out of the fire. "There, that should do it!" Yukari noted with a satisfied grin before taking the cap off, unleashing the odor of freshly cooked rice. Upon smelling the food, a couple of people groaned in delight, clearly welcoming of the fresh sustenance.

The crew for Ooarai's _Panzer_ IV H, the ground crew responsible for the school's Bf 109 K-4, and the pilot of said _Kurfürst_ had all decided to go on a brief camping trip out into the wilderness of New Zealand when the _Zuikaku_ had stopped at Wellington for resupply. It was a spontaneous decision after all of them decided that they should go out and do something during the resupply stop, but they couldn't decide on what. So they posted all possible options on a large dartboard and let Miho throw Erich's knife at it while blindfolded and after she was spun around ten times. Originally, Miho had suggested Erich himself throw it, since it was his knife, but everyone else objected on the grounds that he had such inhuman coordination and was so ungodly accurate with a throwing knife that he could effectively decide for them. All that experience with countering disorientation in the air enabled him to be relatively unaffected by any attempts to displace his coordination. So for a truly random choice to be picked, they forbid Erich from throwing.

The same ban on throwing was also placed on the resident hawk-eye archer of the group, Herz, as well as on Hana for her gunnery prowess. Eventually, they decided on letting Miho throw, since she was relatively unbiased and fair, did not possess the same godly coordination that Erich had, did not have the hawk-like accuracy of either Herz or Hana, and was the de facto leader they all looked to. Plus, she was also skilled enough to wield a throwing knife without causing collateral damage. So Miho threw the knife, and ended up hitting the suggestion to go camping.

"Mmm, this is tasty…" Saori noted in delight upon taking a bite of rice. The campfire ramped up in intensity after Nathan threw some straw into it, making it burn hot enough to provide warmth for everyone.

"Hey, only the best for you all," Yukari responded, exercising humility.

All ten of them were seated on six logs around the fire, with Saori, Hana, and Mako sharing one, all of them enjoying rice. The one to their left held just Yukari, also with rice, with the extra leftover space going to all the gear the group had brought along, mostly Nathan's and her own. The one to Yukari's left held Nathan, who was roasting sausages. On the log to the Canadian's left was Herz, who was restringing the bow he had brought along, his quiver of arrows off to the side. To his left was another log holding Anton and David, the former roasting kebabs and the latter roasting smores. To their left was Miho and Erich on their own log, looking at peace with everything around them.

"You know, I thought about it once before, but I just have to bring it up now," Anton spoke up, looking to Yukari whilst rotating his kebabs in the fire. "Where did you learn all this stuff about survival?"

Yukari shrugged. "It's just something I've had a passion for ever since I was young," she answered honestly. "It came from my studies on military history. Something about how they all manage to survive out in remote locations during campaigns just stuck with me, and so I started getting more into it."

"And here I thought you just wanted to impress Miho," Mako said without an ounce of humor in her face or voice before taking a bite of rice.

Despite the monotone it was said in, nearly everyone laughed at that, notable exception being Yukari herself who flushed with embarrassment at being reminded. They could all recall how much Yukari had idolized Miho when they first met. Anton had likened her to a massively dedicated fangirl, while Erich had compared her to Sabaton's Polish fanbase. Everyone besides Miho had looked at him oddly for that, the light brunette being the only one who knew full well what the blonde was talking about, but the rest of the boys eventually understood the analogy after encountering Dziubek Skalski at a Sabaton concert, and everyone else later came to witness just how much of a fan he was of the Swedish band during his brief stay aboard the _Zuikaku_ with Alice.

"But actually, Anton, you brought up a good point," Saori continued after they all settled down. She then looked around to everyone sitting around the fire. "It seems there are quite a bit of people here that know something about survival. Well, more than I do, anyway."

"Not like that's hard to do," Hana commented before taking a bite of rice.

Again, nearly everyone chuckled in amusement at the jest excluding Saori herself, who pouted instead. "Carrying on…" she continued with annoyance in her voice, before returning back to her former attitude. "I'm curious about who, besides Yukari, actually knows something about survival."

At that prompting, Nathan, Herz, David, Miho, and Erich all raised their hands in acknowledgment, giving indication that they had knowledge of survival. David's hand wasn't raised all that high compared to the others, just barely enough so he got the attention needed for acknowledgment.

Saori then pointed to Nathan and asked, "How?"

The Canadian elaborated while he roasted sausages, "I used to hunt game with my dad while we still lived in Canada. It's a bit different hunting game up there, because much of the land is a perpetual tundra. And everyone typically lives further south near the border, so to find game, you've gotta either head south into America, or north. Paperwork is a bitch, so we simply headed north. So at times we would have to camp out in the freezing cold, because we had gone so far into the middle of nowhere that civilization wasn't present for tens of miles, eh. But I tell ya, to get to those baby seals, it was worth it. That fur is just so goddamn soft."

Nobody made a sound as they all stared at Nathan after he dropped the fact that he used to hunt baby seals.

The Canadian looked around and saw all the looks he was getting. "What?" he blinked, oblivious to the reason for their staring.

"Moving on," Herz spoke up to avoid a massive spat about animal cruelty. "I used to hunt game, too. Not baby seals," he was quick to clarify when he saw Hana's mouth open to retort. The _Panzer_ IV gunner's mouth halted and shut, not seeing a reason to interrupt now. "But pig. It was advantageous to use a bow since it was highly unlikely to startle them due to their sound, or lack thereof, but it was a challenge to get a good kill shot and stay downwind while remaining silent. I picked up on some things about survival from that, but I'm pretty sure there are others here more knowledgeable in that area than me."

"Ooh, interesting…" Saori commented, leaning forward with a smile that held all sorts of intent behind it. "Perhaps you could give me some delicious meat the next time you go hunt pig?"

"Stop trying to get your foot in the door, Saori," Mako spoke up, knowing that the ginger was trying to flirt with the archer.

Saori's face scrunched up in annoyance at her friend's teasing, but she said nothing, because although she would never confirm it out loud to retain her pride, Mako _was_ right in her assumption. That was why she specifically said the words she said. She merely sat back with a huff, crossing her arms.

"Anyway…" David said, dispelling the looks of amusement at the ginger's failure. "It's not so much I know how to survive in the wilderness…" The black-haired boy paused for a bit, as if unsure. "It's more _urban_ survival that I'm familiar with."

Everyone else could tell the tension with which he said that, but being as he had not a single shred of shyness in his body, Erich asked anyway, "Why's that?"

David pressed his lips together and clammed up, unwilling to say any more as the blonde's eyes rested on him. He couldn't fault Erich for asking, because he could tell what he was trying to do: get him to actually talk about his clouded past in America in a hope to help him out. But he just couldn't. Some memories were better off remaining buried, and with that he broke Erich's gaze and looked into the fire, taking a bite out of one of his smores.

"Is it alright if I give them the watered-down version?" Anton leaned in to mutter to him. He knew what the black-haired American was referring to, considering the two had grown up together.

David waved a hand, giving him permission to do so.

With that, the blonde American turned back to everyone else. "Well, long story short," he began as he glanced about at each face, knowing that they wouldn't judge but still checking out of habit anyway. "Anyone related to his parents had a pretty big target on their backs that the mob loved to try and hit. So David and his brother got a first-hand lesson in surviving with such heat raining down on them." He went silent and let that sink in for everyone.

Erich knew the full story. Even though he may not have seemed like it, he was actually very considerate when need be, which was why David trusted him with the full details.

However, Miho also knew the full story, reason being that Erich trusted her discretion, and that he knew David did, too. The whole story wasn't pretty, not one bit. It was quite an eye-opener into the underworld of civilization, the world that the crime lords and mob bosses ruled over, and it struck a cord in Miho to find out that David had survived all that.

Erich knew that the black-haired American would likely never fully recover from that era of his childhood, but he wanted to at least help to minimize its impact on an otherwise genius teenager. Truly, nobody deserved to be painted a target just for being related to the wrong people at that young an age. It made the blonde German respect him all the more for it, along with his brother for standing up and fighting back, cheating death every single time. No doubt Derrick Faul was one of the highest-ranked on the list of souls Queen Hel wished to bring to her realm, simply for the reason that he had cheated her out of his own soul so many times already.

"So, Miho!" Saori interjected, looking to the light brunette with a grin. As always, her bubbly attitude was able to bring the overarching mood back to a cheerful state. "How do _you_ know about survival?"

Miho lightly laughed out of nervousness, something she often did as she wasn't used to having a lot of friends and hence was still somewhat shy at times. "Well, I learned through a class that was offered at Schwarzwaldspitze," she revealed with a small grin, playing with the edge of her skirt with one hand. "It went over the basics for the most part, though I did learn a few things from _Bubi_ here." She let go of her skirt and pointed to Erich with her thumb.

"And how does he know about survival?" Hana asked out of politeness, knowing that Saori, and maybe Yukari too, would've balked at the insinuation that Erich knew about survival if given the chance. In everyone's opinion – yes, _everyone_ – the blonde German pilot was the laziest person they had ever met. Even so much as lifting a finger was often too much for him to do.

The blond-haired ultra-ace shrugged while still wearing his typical carefree smile. "My pilot's training growing up held an intense section on survival," he said. "Pretty much every aspect of survival you had to learn if you were a pilot, because you never knew when and where you would get shot down. You had to be able to survive for long enough to be rescued by allies."

Miho looked down ever so slightly, looking a bit sullen. She remembered that it wasn't always wilderness specifically that had to be survived. In Erich's case, she remembered back when they were still in Schwarzwaldspitze's ranks how he had to survive the deliberate attempt at mind-fucking that Pravda had subjected him to one time after he had to force-land in Russia due to mechanical malfunctions.

Erich may have gotten over that, being as he held no grudges anymore with Pravda for that, but Miho had not. Even though she would never act out in revenge, especially since Katyusha was her friend now, it still hurt incredibly to recall how brutal the Russians were with him. She remembered a very prominent splitting of skin on his left cheek when he came back, which according to him came from when Nudelmann smacked him with a cane during an interrogation, after he refused to answer a question. Erich had actually laughed about it, saying that right after he was smacked, he had then smashed a chair over the Russian ace's head, knocking him out and splitting the chair with the force of the hit.

And then the battle with Pravda had occurred the previous year, which the Germans had lost. That changed the blond-haired German ultra-ace greatly. For a short time, he held an immense grudge with the Russians, until his most recent battle against them under the Ooarai banner, where the grudge was dispelled.

Miho honestly couldn't figure out why Erich did not hate the Russians anymore, even though they had done such horrible things to him. She found it to be an injustice to him that such actions were just forgotten like they had never happened. It just didn't seem fair to her. She felt that Erich deserved to have those responsible bow before him and beg for forgiveness, or suffer his wrath.

"As for what I taught Miho," the blonde's voice brought the light brunette out of her head and back into reality. He chuckled a couple of times before turning to face Miho. "Well, you remember that time in the woods when we were really young?"

Miho quickly recalled the time in question, and her face heated up in embarrassment. " _Noooo!_ " she shook her head repeatedly like a child, practically begging Erich to not speak of that time.

The blonde let loose a few chuckles again, smiling that incredibly fun-loving grin as he turned back to face everyone else and prepared to tell his tale, "So, this one time back home in Weissach, in the woods around our neighborhood, Miho and I were-"

He was cut off as Miho jumped onto him, covering his mouth with his hand. "You said you wouldn't speak of that again!" she cried in outrage, although she was still smiling despite her humiliation from that occasion.

Some of the others, like Saori, Nathan, Anton, and Yukari, started laughing lightly at how childlike Miho and Erich were, while the rest, Hana, David, Herz, and Mako, all simply grinned at them. The two Swabians were still clearly children at heart, and they could both still act that way even years after exiting childhood. It showed just how free they both were around each other. That was especially true for Miho, who had never been particularly sociable when she was without the blonde, albeit not without lack of trying.

It did not go unnoticed to the group how Miho's expression had changed to something resembling upsetedness when Erich started talking about his survival training. Clearly there was something deep between them relating to that. But it had also not gone unnoticed how the blonde had deliberately changed the subject away from his experiences, also bringing the light brunette out of her own sullen thoughts. It was quite awe-inspiring just how much Miho's mood had changed for the better because of something Erich did.

After hearing of their whole story together with the entire group, Hana had likened Erich to being much like Miho's guardian angel, what with how he was able to bring her up from her lows extremely quickly and with great effect, and how he always looked out for her, putting her needs ahead of his own, always protecting her. And the pun on flight was not missed, though nearly everyone else groaned at it when it was brought up. Hana had not the best sense of humor.

But the point remained: there was something extremely deep between Erich and Miho, something that eclipsed friendship and even romance. What they had between them was true lifelong companionship, and for them it was an extremely tight, and strong, bond. There was no relationship quite like theirs.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 _ **XXXXXXXXXX**_

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	130. Kapitel 27,1,9

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Neun: Fotomöglichkeit**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Kiev,_ it was a relatively normal day. 'Relative' was the key word there, as a normal day aboard the Russian school ship almost always included some kind of chaos, whether it be from drunk Russians doing any number of quirky things or some kind of spectacular failure in the structure of some building or an exemplary display of what not to do when piloting a vehicle, which may or may not have been caused by drunk Russians. If it wasn't anyone drowned in vodka, then otherwise the cause was most likely a bear looking to entertain itself.

Today's instance of chaos came in the form of someone without any clothes on driving by a restaurant with a Jerry-rigged contraption that could only be described as a motorized bath tub. The front half of a motorcycle frame was taken and attached to the front of an empty bath tub, which had a hastily-rigged double-axle setup supporting it off the ground. The wheels of those two axles had an overly excessive amount of negative camber as a result of the Jerry-rigged installation being not of the best quality. It was powered by a simple air-cooled V-twin two-stroke engine and had a basic single-speed chain drive transmission delivering power to the more forward of the two axles.

Sasha, Nudelmann, Nonna, and Katyusha all paid the motorized bath tub no mind as they walked inside the restaurant. After all, stuff like that happened a lot aboard the _Kiev._ The restaurant they walked into was a relatively small establishment called 'Perestroika.' It was similar in layout to a bar, with the side the door and windows were on lined with booths and a full-length bar counter opposite.

The four Russians soon seated themselves at a booth, with Katyusha and Sasha taking the side closest to the window, Nonna beside Katyusha, and Nudelmann across from her beside Sasha.

Within several seconds of being seated, they all noticed a young blonde waitress walk towards them with a polite and friendly smile. " _Dobro pozhalovat' v Perestroiku!_ " she welcomed them all to the restaurant. " _Vy budete chto-nibud' pit'_ _?_ "

" _Ya budu v_ _odku,_ " Nudelmann responded to the offer for drinks without hesitation.

" _Bud'te dobry, prinesite vodki_ _,_ " Nonna requested vodka as well.

" _Vodki mne!_ " Katyusha also requested as she sat up to try and make herself taller, though only succeeding in bringing more attention to her.

Sasha remained quiet, as he was distracted sketching out a new idea for something he could build on a napkin. This time, the creation looked awfully similar to a cross between a car and a wingsuit, with the driver laying flat and their limbs extending to all four wheels. The car itself was extremely low-slung, giving the resemblance to a wingsuit gliding only inches off the ground. The body was similar to a skeleton, though it was designed to have actively adjusting panels for aerodynamic benefits, as well as to flex with the suspension itself, giving an even greater resemblance to a wingsuit. Even more intriguing was the detailed specification for a laser propulsion system behind the driver, or rather more accurately, between their legs, which provided power via thrust generated from laser pulses.

The blonde Russian engineer finally snapped out of it when Nudelmann nudged him. " _Khm, chego tebe?_ " he went dumbly, demonstrating his lack of awareness very well. He looked around at everyone else, including the young blonde waitress, and finally seemed to remember that they were ordering drinks earlier as his eyebrows rose. " _Akh, mne togo zhe_ _._ " He then returned to his napkin sketches, continuing to refine everything as he saw fit. His behavior didn't suggest he had even bothered stopping his sketching in the first place.

The young blonde waitress slowly blinked at Sasha's behavior before shaking her head and putting back on her inviting smile. " _Khorosho, ya skoro vse prinesu,_ " she notified that their drinks would be there soon. " _Pochemu by vam ne posmotret' nashe menyu tem vremenem? Potom ya primu vash zakaz!_ " She left them after suggesting they take a look at the menu and that she would be back soon to take their orders.

Nudelmann shot a look saying 'really?' to Sasha, and then he smacked him when he didn't even bother to look up from his resumed sketching.

"Ow!" the blonde Russian engineer lurched forward from the hit. He quickly recovered and looked down at his sketching, which had a streak through it. He then turned on the black-haired Russian sharpshooter, looking mad about his sketches being ruined. "Hey, I spent a lot of time on this!"

"All of forty-five seconds he spent on that one…" Nonna muttered as she and Katyusha watched the boys bicker from across. The smaller of the two girls snickered at her remark, while the taller girl simply opened up her menu and browsed. "So, what do you see that you like, Katyusha?"

The diminutive Russian hastily opened up her own menu to scour for something she liked. Finally, she found it. " _Okroshka!_ " she claimed.

Nonna nodded in acknowledgment. "Okay, so you'll be ordering the neutral variety, right?" she hazarded a guess, thinking about what would be best for the diminutive Russian.

"Don't treat me like a child!" Katyusha snapped back, clearly unsatisfied with the basic _okroshka_ dish. "I want the spicy variety!"

Nonna raised an eyebrow, as if questioning if Katyusha was sure. "With the white _okroshka kvass?_ " she offered, making it clear that she didn't expect the smaller of them to say yes.

"With the white _okroshka kvass!_ " Katyusha boldly confirmed, still feeling as if she was being challenged.

With an acquiescing sigh, Nonna turned back to pick out her own selection from the menu. "Alright, if you're sure…" she forewarned.

Nudelmann and Sasha caught wind of the conversation the girls had and halted their bickering. Nudelmann leaned close to Sasha and muttered, "This should be good."

Sasha huffed in amusement, knowing that seeing Katyusha try to eat the more hardcore _okroshka_ would be very, very, _very_ entertaining.

XXXXXXXXXX

The four of them all ordered, and as Katyusha demanded, she got her hardcore spicy _okroshka_ several minutes later. After seeing it, however, she looked about ready to gag.

The cold soup's sheer spiciness could be felt even without consuming it, as Katyusha could feel her eyes water when she brought up the first spoon. " _Okh ty zh yo,_ " she muttered upon realizing just how hardcore Perestroika's spicy-variety _okroshka_ was.

But Katyusha wasn't one to back down, and with great effort, she slowly brought up her spoon to take the first serving of the soup.

Simultaneously, Nonna was bringing her phone up to take a picture of the moment. Nudelmann was doing the same, only he was holding the phone in portrait mode as opposed to Nonna in landscape mode and subtly bringing it above the table. Sasha simply watched out of the corner of his eye, momentarily pausing his sketching.

As if sensing she was the center of attention again, Katyusha abruptly stopped lifting up the spoon and turned on Nonna. The tall IS-2 gunner quickly turned away simultaneously to evade suspicion. Across from her, Nudelmann brought up his phone and made himself appear to be checking something on it, erasing suspicion from him also. Finally, Sasha looked down again and resumed his sketching, also escaping suspicion.

But Katyusha knew something was off with all of them and stared at them all for a bit longer before returning back to her task of taking her first spoonful of the _okroshka._ She decided to quickly do it this time, to hopefully escape any attempts at embarrassing photos as well as to just get it over with more quickly.

In the meantime, Sasha discreetly nudged Nudelmann and caught Nonna's eye. He subtly pointed to his left eye, which was noticeably different in having a black iris color versus his naturally blue right eye, and the two other Russians both quickly caught on. Nonna sharply nodded in acknowledgment and Nudelmann gave the blonde Russian a thumbs-up underneath the table.

Katyusha quickly gulped down the spoonful of _okroshka,_ and immediately felt the spiciness in the vegetables used for it, as well as the sourness of the white _okroshka kvass._ The combined effect made her face turn red as it scrunched up.

Watching her, Sasha decided that now was the time to do what the other two Russians wanted to do as well: take a photo of Katyusha's hilarious expression. So when the diminutive Russian's face turned red and scrunched up, the Russian engineer's left eye flashed.

Katyusha immediately looked to Sasha, the flash catching her off guard and arousing her suspicions. But the Russian engineer had a perfectly neutral face as he continued sketching on his napkin, leaving the diminutive Russian with little to back her suspicions of him, and so she turned away back to her _okroshka,_ dismissing the flash as just a figment of her imagination.

Simultaneously, Nonna and Nudlemann's phones both vibrated with an incoming message from Sasha. Both pulled up their phones to check. The message was the picture of Katyusha the Russian engineer had just taken with his eye-camera. The two sharpshooters had to exercise an extreme amount of restraint to keep from bursting out into laughter from how hilarious Katyusha's expression was in the photo.

Both of the black-haired Russians made mental notes to praise Sasha for his covert camera. With that wonderfully-disguised gadget, they could now capture precious Katyusha moments without the risk of her finding out and foiling their attempts.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 ** _The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to_** **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**

 ** _Special thanks to_ ChillingComrade _for his Russian expertise._**


	131. Kapitel 27,1,10

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Zehn: Es ist unabhängige Schulung**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Up in a very specific bedroom of the Akiyama Barber Shop, there was a lot of stuff scattered across the floor. The scattering was not random, but deliberate. Boxes were propped in specific locations and arrangements, creating a semblance to a very specific type of field.

Also on the floor were various tank models, all representing various tanks in the possession of Ooarai. There was the distinctive _Bräunlichrot Panzer_ IV H of the _Anglerfish_ Team, the _Dunkelgelb Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) of _Turtle_ Team, the tan _I-Go otsu_ of _Duck_ Team, the _Panzergrau_ StuG III F, the naturally dark brown M3 Lee, the yellowish _Char_ B1 _bis,_ the faded green _Chi-Nu,_ and the _Panzergrau_ VK 45.01 (P).

"So if events occurred like this…" Yukari muttered to herself as she manipulated the _Panzer_ IV and VK 45.01 (P) into position. They were depicted such that the _Panzer_ IV was retreating around a corner, represented by a small box, and the VK 45.01 (P) waiting a little ways behind the corner ready to blow whatever was tailing the smaller German _Panzer_ to smithereens. "… Then the enemy should react like this…"

Yukari then moved a dark gray Churchill Mk VII, representing the same full-scale infantry tank commanded by St Gloriana's Darjeeling, to appear to be trying to peek around the corner. "The enemy should easily be taken out, as at this range the _Porsche Tiger_ has a powerful enough gun to take out a Churchill Mk VII from the front, while the Churchill would be unable to respond due to the _Tiger's_ thick armor being too much for its own gun to punch through…" Yukari noted as she grabbed the Churchill, taking it out of the simulation after determining it wouldn't survive.

She put it with the other model tanks she had off to the side, all of which represented the tanks that Ooarai's rivals used. There was of course the Churchill Mk VII representing Darjeeling's tank. Also present was a tan Matilda II as a generic St Gloriana tank, a flat green M4 sans suffix representing any of Saunders' numerous _Shermans,_ a slightly darker green _Sherman_ VC to represent Naomi, a dark green P26/40 to represent Anchovy, a snow white T-34-85 as a general Pravda tank, a snow white KV-2 to represent Pravda's _Gigant,_ a snow white IS-2 mod. 1944 to portray the sharpshooter Nonna, and an assortment of German tanks representing Schwarzwaldspitze. The assortment contained a _Dunkelgelb Panther_ G, a _Dunkelgelb_ Vomag-produced _Jagdpanzer_ IV/70, a _Dunkelgelb Jagdpanther,_ a _Dunkelgelb Elefant,_ a three-color camouflaged _Maus,_ a _Dunkelgelb Tiger_ II (H) to represent Erika Itsumi, and a _Dunkelgelb Tiger_ H1 to portray Maho Nishizumi.

"Now…" the tank guru muttered as she began rearranging the 'battlefield' again, moving boxes into strategic positions. "… To work out how just one team could possibly take on Schwarzwaldspitze's best…" She began to set the battlefield's players, choosing three of Schwarzwaldspitze's tanks to bring out against the sole _Panzer_ IV H. "The _Jagdpanther,_ Miss Erika's _Tiger_ II, and Lady Nishizumi's older sister in the _Tiger_ I… This doesn't look too good for us, but I think we can do this…"

Yukari had each side start on opposite ends of the battlefield, which had boxes scattered across sporadically to serve as cover. She had the three Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzers_ split up and go in different directions, with the _Tiger_ II going straight up the middle.

The _Panzer_ IV went to the right side of the battlefield as soon as the fight commenced. However, it was soon intercepted by the _Jagdpanther,_ which Yukari knew possessed quite impressive mobility for its weight, being based on the similarly agile _Panther._

"No, no, the _Panzer_ IV needs to book it here…" Yukari predicted the most likely action Miho would undertake, which was to immediately accelerate to the side upon seeing the _Jagdpanther_ lining up the _Panzer_ IV for a shot, to throw off the tank destroyer's aim and get it to miss. Taking advantage of the time the _Jagdpanther_ needed to reload, the smaller _Panzer_ closed with the tank destroyer, heading for its side.

"And Hana fires…" the tank guru visualized the scene, getting very much into the simulating. She imagined the 7,5 cm KwK 40 L/48 planting a shot straight into the side of the _Jagdpanther's_ crew compartment, a fatal shot for all intents and purposes. "… And the enemy is history."

After simulating that brief skirmish, Yukari manipulated the _Panzer_ IV to head for the middle. The other two German heavy tanks both started heading for the direction of the lighter _Panzer,_ with the _Tiger_ I being more runabout in its route and the _Tiger_ II being more straight forward due to its lesser mobility and closer proximity.

The _Königstiger_ ran into the _Panzer_ IV first, at an intersection. "Lady Nishizumi! To our right!" Yukari made the call-out, using the excessively formal title specially meant for her Swabian commander.

"Got it, Yukari!" Miho acknowledged from her commander's post. She saw the _Tiger_ II's long 88 begin to train itself on the _Panzer_ IV. "Mako, right!"

The _Anglerfish Panzer_ accelerated off to the right to throw off the _Tiger_ II's aim, which forced the heavy tank's shot to go wide left into a building due to overcompensation.

"Now!" Miho cued. At that cue, the _Panzer_ IV drove around the _Tiger_ II to get sight of its side armor. " _Feuer!_ "

At the order, Hana fired the 7,5 cm cannon straight into the port side of the _Königstiger._ At that close a range, the shot was guaranteed to penetrate and wreck the interior. And defeat the heavy tank it did, as the _Tiger_ II completely locked up after being hit.

Miho let out a breath after her crew slayed the big-game beast that was Erika's _Tiger_ II. "Nice job, everybody," she congratulated them.

"Whoo…" Yukari whooped with shortness of breath from the intense action as she shared a high-five with Hana for her always-reliable gunnery.

The _Panzer_ IV's German commander opened her hatch and stood up into her usual heads-up commanding position to scan the area around her. She was well aware of how there was still one enemy left, and of how that enemy was going to be by far the most difficult to destroy. "Mako, drive on," Miho calmly ordered.

With that, the _Bräunlichrot Panzer_ gently set off and drove forward down the wide multilane street.

If Miho knew her sister as well as she thought she knew her, then she would guess that Maho was going to come after her from the direction she least expected. The light brunette had planned for this, as the street she was on had buildings on either side. Just ahead, the street was split into a crossroads as a four-way intersection, though it was warned that taking a left from Miho's current direction would lead to a dead-end. She held all the cards, as she could easily predict where her sister would come from and have enough time to react in her current position, which held few pathways directly to her.

Suddenly, she heard the distinct V12 howl of the 23-liter Maybach HL230, the engine powering the _Tiger_ I. She widened her eyes in surprise, momentarily panicking because she could've sworn she accounted for everything to work in her favor. At that moment, the building her _Panzer_ IV was about to pass effectively blew up after something plowed through it from the other side.

And, as she held her arms up to shield herself from the debris, that's when Miho remembered that behind one of the buildings to her right was a small side street that, while a dead-end, still led to the building's other side. The side street was perpendicular to the main street the light brunette was on, and as she realized in that moment, it was very much possible to forcefully bridge those two streets together if enough force was put behind such an attempt.

Maho had rammed her _Tiger_ I through the building at its maximum 28 mph speed just as Miho was about to pass by it, clouding the area with a thick cloud of dust from the concrete that was just crushed without mercy. If she had just a little more speed behind her, the darker-haired Nishizumi could've carried enough momentum to effectively ram the _Panzer_ IV as well.

As the thick dust could began to dissipate, and as Miho regained her bearings from the surprise blow, the light brunette saw the distinct front flange and rear disk type muzzle brake of the 8,8 cm KwK 36 L/56 wielded by the prowling beast pointing near her general direction. At that point, Miho decided that it was time for flight instead of fight. "Mako, get us out of here!" she ordered with a sense of urgency.

Heeding the order, Mako quickly slammed the gear shift into first and launched the _Panzer_ forward under full throttle and away from the _Tiger_ I. The German heavy tank began turning both its hull and its turret slowly toward the _Panzer_ IV, with its hull rotating in place and assisting in getting the gun on target sooner due to the slow turret traverse of the heavy tank.

"Make a left here!" Miho ordered upon reaching the crossroads that were only several dozen meters away. The _Tiger_ was about to take a shot at her, so the light brunette immediately sought to evade.

"Roger," Mako responded as only she could: with absolutely no emotion in her voice. She steered the _Panzer_ IV left to make the turn and head down the side street.

Yukari just remembered something critical, however. "But Lady Nishizumi, this way's-" she began to say to Miho that this street was a dead end, but she was cut off before she could finish.

"It's alright, Yukari, that's-" Miho was about to elaborate to Yukari how this was a part of her plan, but she too was cut off as a familiar voice echoed over the radio.

" _Jericho, eingehend,_ " everyone heard the voice of the one and only Erich-Dietrich Hartmann, informing that the requested airstrike, codenamed _Jericho,_ was inbound. In the background was the constant deep and powerful howl of the DB 605 engine within his Bf 109 running at full throttle.

XXXXXXXXXX

Yukari snapped back to reality with a shocked start. She did _not_ expect the German ultra-ace to worm his way into her visualization. On instinct, she looked around to try and find the source of disturbance that snapped her out of her stupor. Almost everything was as she left it.

The keyword was 'almost,' as there was one extra presence in her room now: Erich-Dietrich Hartmann, standing before her and looking down at her. He was in nothing but his black swim trunks, clearly unconcerned with propriety. The blond-haired ultra-ace started laughing when he got a look at Yukari's undignified face.

"Oh man, I was wondering how long it would take for you to snap out of it!" the German pilot remarked while his laughter gradually died down.

The tank guru remained in a stunned silence before finally being able to speak up. "What are you doing here?!" she asked, bolting up to her feet as her face flushed red in shame from being caught in such an impassioned state in her role-playing.

"Oh, right, I _did_ come here for a reason, didn't I?" Erich seemed to remember he was meant to do something, quenching his laughter instantly. "Well, I just came by to see if you wanted to come hang out with us all. We were planning to go to the pool for the day."

"The pool?" Yukari asked, forgetting all about how ashamed she was five seconds prior. The blonde nodded affirmative, actually excited about hanging out with her friends. "Oh, yeah, of course! I'll be down in a second!"

Erich watched as the tank guru sprung to life again and ran towards her closet. Seeing his work done, the blonde passed his gaze over all of the tank models on the floor before finally leaving and heading back downstairs.

"So, is she coming?" Miho asked him after he came back outside. She was leaning back against the building with her arms crossed nonchalantly in her own swimsuit, a pink two-piece using a tied top piece and a bottom that resembled an _extremely_ short skirt. A few moderate frills were present on both pieces.

"Yeah, she'll be down in a second," Erich responded. Nobody else was there, as the rest of them had already gone on ahead to the pool, leaving just the two Swabians. The blonde grinned in amusement as he began to retell what kept Yukari in the first place. "When I went up to get her, I heard her talking to herself a bit, going all, 'But Lady Nishizumi!' and then in your voice 'It's alright, Yukari,' and all that while she moved around model tanks on the floor." He tried to raise his voice an octave to mimic Yukari's imitation, but the attempt was rather pathetic. "So I eventually step in and whisper, ' _Jericho, eingehend_ ' in her ear, and she just _jumps._ " Erich jumped back a bit to emphasize, and he then began to laugh again at the absurdity of the entire situation.

Miho turned red in embarrassment on Yukari's behalf, because she knew Erich was merciless in his teasing and would never allow the tank guru to live that down. The light brunette was not terribly surprised, however, to find out that Yukari had been role-playing combat scenarios with great passion. But the principle of Erich actually telling her about it without Yukari there did not sit well with her.

"The look on her face: _priceless!_ " the blonde huffed out, about ready to burst into giggles again.

That was when Miho smacked him on the upper arm in reprimand. She smacked him pretty hard, too. After all, this was _far_ from the first time she had to keep the blonde's behavior in line.

"Ah-ha-ha-how-ow…" Erich playfully backed away until his back was to the wall, holding his shoulder with mock-hurt as the light brunette closed the gap with him, close enough so that their bodies could sense the heat of the other without even touching.

"You know that's not a nice thing to say about her…" Miho lectured him with that silky smooth and airy voice she used whenever she wanted to drive a point home while also keeping the overall mood pleasant and uncontested. She had a small smile with lowered eyebrows, a look that Erich swore made her look as ethereal as a goddess. "Would you like it if I told everyone about _our_ secret activities because you were so willing to spill someone else's secret activities for no reason other than for a good laugh?"

The light brunette brought herself even closer to Erich, fully pressing her body against his own and getting him mightily distracted about said 'secret activities.' ' _We're still talking about discretion, right?_ ' the blonde thought as his breathing started getting harder and a dark haze curtailed over his vision, bringing all of his other thoughts to the vixen in front of him. Said vixen brought her hands to his shoulders and pressed her forehead to his own, bringing their lips just a hair's breadth away from each other.

"Because you know I will…" Miho whispered, her hot breath ghosting over the blonde's lips and presenting a mighty temptation to him.

And by God, was that temptation effective. Erich wanted to do nothing more than rip that two-piece off of her and conquer her again, and again, and _again._ If she wanted to start the fire in him, then he would give it to her. He would give it _all_ to her, even when she begged him to stop. He would have her on her knees, begging in such a wanton manner that he wouldn't be able to hold himself back.

"Hey guys, I didn't keep you too long, did I?" Yukari strolled out of the barber shop with her two-piece camo swimsuit in hand.

Miho casually stepped away from Erich with a friendly smile on her face and turned to Yukari. "No, not at all!" she reassured the tank guru. She then waved her hand. "Come on, let's go!"

She and Yukari then set off, but Erich remained where he was, face flushed red from arousal, as he perplexedly watched Miho just walk away like nothing happened.

Finally, he shook his head in defeat as he walked after them. " _Ach, du bist so ein Scherzbold…_ " the blonde muttered how she was such a tease.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	132. Kapitel 27,1,11

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Elf: Erwartungsvoll Aussehen**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

During another day aboard the _HMS Ark Royal,_ four of St Gloriana's students walked down the hall chatting amongst each other. Normally, there were six of them, but two were missing, and the whereabouts of those two were the main topic of discussion.

"Have any of you seen Darjeeling and Assam today?" Orange Pekoe asked the three boys on either side of her. "I tried texting them, but they haven't replied back."

"Nope," Douglas immediately shook his head, denying any knowledge of Darjeeling or Assam, but mostly Darjeeling. Assam he could live with, but not Darjeeling.

"No, I haven't heard anything," Dennis responded afterwards, shaking his head as well. He spotted someone out of the corner of his eye, though, further down the hall. Taking a closer look, he recognized the figure approaching them. "Actually, I take that back. There's Assam right there."

Everyone else looked to where the Northern Irishman was pointing, and sure enough saw Assam walking towards them.

"Hello, Assa-" Orange Pekoe began to say hello upon the foursome of Brits closing the distance with the blonde Englishwoman, but she was cut off.

"Good day, Darjeeling," Arthur greeted resolutely, without a shred of doubt in his voice. The other three looked to him in confusion, seeing him bore his gaze into the Englishwoman opposite him with such a self-assured smirk on his face.

"Oh, you and your discernibility just had to ruin my fun," Darjeeling pretended to pout like she was offended, even though that wasn't the case. She was much different in her appearance, having her blonde hair tied up into the wild style synonymous with Assam, including the bow.

Everyone else besides Arthur all stared at Darjeeling utterly perplexed. Within their minds, each of them was wondering what on Earth possessed Darjeeling to cosplay as Assam.

Soon enough, after letting a brief silence pass by, Douglas uttered the one thought everyone had on their mind: "What. The. Fuck."

"I believe what he means is," Orange Pekoe was quick to interject, looking to minimize the amount of offense in Douglas' words. It was a job she often did. "Why are you all…" She swept her arm up and down gesturing to Darjeeling's appearance.

"Ah, that," Darjeeling grew a grin before answering Orange Pekoe's unspoken question. "I wanted a change of air. So," she then spread her arms out. "What do you think?"

"I think you have issues," Douglas piped up, earning him a harsh nudge from Dennis to silence him. While the Northern Irishman agreed wholly with his Scottish comrade, Dennis still had the common sense to remain polite, something that Douglas often lacked.

"Oh, believe me, I know," Darjeeling retorted with a smile anyways. "My issues make a Russian look sane by comparison."

"My God, what kind of game is she playing now…?" Orange Pekoe muttered to Arthur. "What, is she trying to actually act like Assam?"

"If that's the case, then she's already got the sense of humor down," the Spitfire ace muttered back. That made the smaller ginger's lips twitch in amusement, as that was indeed a horrible joke Darjeeling just told. It was a joke they would expect to be told by Assam.

"Good morrow, everyone!" another Englishwoman's voice was heard, Assam's this time. Everyone turned to find Assam walking towards them, but like Darjeeling, she had also altered her hairstyle. Her own blonde hair was styled into Darjeeling's signature French braid. "Have you heard this saying? 'With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.'"

"Oh, bravo, Assam!" Darjeeling clapped, impressed with Assam's imitation of her as well as her extremely timely presence. "Always quick on the uptake!"

"Wow, she definitely did her research on this," Arthur noted. While not quite as knowledgeable on them as Orange Pekoe or Darjeeling, his knowledge on quotes still enabled him to place the origin of the quote, which impressed him all the more with Assam in particular. She was able to replicate Darjeeling's distinctive trait of quoting famous quotes with seeming flawlessness.

"What is this even about…?" Orange Pekoe muttered, still not sure on why Darjeeling and Assam were trying to imitate each other in the first place.

At that point, both Darjeeling and Assam turned to face Orange Pekoe and strike her with a look that practically demanded she take part as well. It was kind of creepy in all honesty as they continued to bore into the ginger with their gazes.

Finally, Orange Pekoe sighed and started messing with her hair, taking it out of her usual twin braids put into twisted buns. "Fine, just give me a second…" she gave in to the peer pressure.

From the sidelines, having migrated out of the line of fire between the girls, Arthur, Douglas, and Dennis stood there to observe the attempts to replicate the actions of another flawlessly.

"You know what?" Arthur eventually piped up. "We should do something like that." He nodded to the girls, who were still trying to perfectly replicate the behaviors of whoever they chose to impersonate.

"Oh, God help us," Douglas spread his arms and looked upwards, sarcastically begging the powers that be for this nonsense to stop.

"No, no, seriously, I think this could be interesting," Arthur insisted, turning to the other two boys with him. He thought for a brief moment until he waved a hand dismissively at Dennis. "Well, except for Dennis. He'd have to dye his hair before he could impersonate anyone."

Dennis rolled his eyes at the slight to his short, naturally red hair. It wasn't like he was even interested in acting in the first place, so the idea of impersonation didn't stir his curiosity like it did the others.

"But the real question is…" Arthur continued on, lifting a finger to his chin in thought. "Who would us two be best to act as?"

Silence reigned for several seconds as Douglas and Arthur both thought of possibilities. The quiet was soon interrupted by the Englishman. "I know!" he said, snapping his fingers in a similar gesture of enlightenment. "You could do our favorite Russian engineer, Sasha."

"Oh, no, no way in hell," the Scotsman denied with arms crossing in front of him in a blunt 'nope' gesture. "I may have enough mechanical knowledge to maintain a Spitfire, and we may share the same hair and eye colors, but Sasha's mechanical knowledge is just something else. Plus, I can't pull off a Russian accent for the life of me."

"Ah, yes, you bring up good points…" Arthur noted, returning to thinking of possibilities.

"Actually," Douglas spoke up again with a finger raised. "Perhaps you could try to impersonate the _Meister_ Erich. I mean, you've already got much of the physical aspects down." He waved at Arthur's head to emphasize. "Blonde hair, blue eyes…"

"Well, that's not happening for similar reasons as to why you won't do Sasha," Arthur responded. "For one, you can forget about me trying to talk like a German. That's not something I think is even _possible_ for me to do." He then raised two fingers. "And two, he's far too bipolar for me to accurately portray. He's got way too many extreme traits of his, and not all of them play nice with each other. Like his fierce focus in combat compared to his utter bum-like everyday behavior, or his mischievous side versus his incredible self-righteousness." The Englishman shook his head. "No, just no bloody way am I going to be able to impersonate him accurately."

XXXXXXXXXX

Somewhere else on the seven seas, aboard the _Zuikaku,_ Erich-Dietrich Hartmann sneezed.

" _Achoo!_ " the blonde sneezed once, violently. He then furrowed his brow in confusion as to why he felt something was off in the universe.

Walking beside him, Miho giggled a bit. "I think someone's talking about you again," she guessed. That was her usual guess as to why Erich would sneeze at any given time, given he had a sizable following. When she was younger, she was a bit put off by how well-liked he was because of a slight yet irrepressible jealousy of how easily the blonde could make friends compared to her, who historically had great difficulty with the same task. But that was no longer the case after she eventually learned to accept every part of the ultra-ace, including that large following.

"Yeah, well I hope it's only nice things," Erich retorted. His lips then curled into a grin. "And even then, only platonic things. For _their_ own safety, because I know exactly what you would do if you found anyone admiring me in the way you do."

Miho blushed at the blonde's implication and looked away with a meek smile. Okay, so maybe she wasn't necessarily _jealous_ of him anymore, but she was most certainly still _possessive_ of the ultra-ace. That had never changed in all ten years they had known each other, and most likely never will. He would always be hers, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

She was broken out of her thoughts by her phone ringing. She had a rhythmic digital ringtone, similar to modern J-pop but less intense, play for a bit until she dug it out of her bag and answered it. "Hello?" she answered.

Her accompanying ultra-ace rolled his eyes nonchalantly. "I swear, you have the most boring ringtone _ever!_ " the blonde loudly proclaimed, loud enough that it could even be heard over the other end of the light brunette's phone.

That sent Miho into another fit of giggles, knowing this to be typical Erich behavior: being so blunt with his opinions on such silly topics that it made her laugh nearly every time at the absurdity. "Okay Saori, we'll be there soon," she managed to reply before hanging up and continuing to laugh heartily. Why the light brunette found his boisterous claim so funny was because the blonde still couldn't comprehend why she didn't want to have an influx of heavy metal alerting her of a call. It was just hilarious to her, seeing that face full of child-like wonder as she tried to explain that she wasn't terribly fond of being woken up in the middle of the night from his own phone blasting its Sabaton ringtones at each call, and that she would truly go mad if her own phone did the same.

Moments like that were why Miho loved being around Erich: there was just never a boring minute with him.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	133. Kapitel 27,1,12

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwölf: Bruders Finte**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Zuikaku_ within a very specific small house, David Faul was busying himself with making some food.

Normally, he did not perform such a task, instead preferring food that didn't take much effort to prepare. Because he was his namesake: that is, he was lazy. However, this particular occasion saw him making a basic breakfast with bacon, eggs, and toast at seven in the morning, already fully dressed in his Ooarai uniform.

And the reason behind that stumbled into the kitchen soon enough with no dignity whatsoever, wearing just some black sweatpants and a white undershirt. The half-asleep young man was Derrick Faul, David's older brother. The two were very similar in appearance, the biggest change between them being Derrick's overall more raw appearance. He was taller, notably more heavily built and had a messier mop of black hair on his head. It was also obvious he had endured a number of injuries over the years with the number of scars visible on him.

"Morning, brother," David greeted while he plucked the bacon strips off the pan with a pair of tongs, deeming them cooked well enough.

Derrick blinked a few times, still trying to gather his surroundings, before responding. "Ah, morning, brother," he reciprocated with a voice that betrayed his lack of being fully awake as he took in the sight of his brother actually doing something for a change. No doubt this was deliberate on David's part, he figured, as Derrick often harped on his younger brother for his lack of action. David never liked being lectured and often did whatever was necessary to avoid such.

David set two plates with two slices of toast, two eggs, and two strips of bacon, handing one to his brother before heading to the living room. He didn't have a table in the kitchen nor a dedicated dining room, so he made do with the main living room. Derrick followed him and both took a seat on opposite ends of the couch and started to eat, with Derrick turning on the flat-screen with a remote to fill the room with noise. Neither really cared much about watching television in general, but it made the house feel more alive when on, so on it went.

"Hey, you remember what day it is?" Derrick eventually asked out of the blue, pausing his eating.

David glanced at his brother out of the corner of his eye, momentarily pausing. "Tuesday," he soon said.

Derrick furrowed his eyebrows as he thought. "… Wait, doesn't that mean I'm a week early?" he eventually wondered, scratching the side of his forehead with a finger. "I thought I was supposed to be here next week?"

David furrowed his own eyebrows wondering what the hell his brother was talking about. He remembered explicitly that it was supposed to be starting this week that Derrick would stay aboard the ship with him. It didn't make sense that the elder Faul would fail to remember this, considering he had remembered his visit had started yesterday.

But then David's eyebrows rose in slight alarm, as he remembered that Derrick had a reason to be forgetful: the amount of concussions he had endured over the years fighting for the two of them to survive against the mob, first in the urban jungle that was Los Angeles, and then in Ooarai against the Yakuza. The guy just wouldn't die, but that didn't mean his mental capacity couldn't degrade as a result and eventually lead to his death that way.

Derrick was the last family David had left, so if he went, then David was lost. And the thought that Derrick was finally paying the price for keeping them both alive made David's stomach fall in dread.

Then the elder Faul started laughing heartily, which snapped the younger out of his thoughts and made him look over to his brother.

"Oh, god, your face was priceless!" Derrick pointed at David with a finger while still cracking himself up. "I can't believe you fell for that! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

David blinked once before realizing that the whole act was just a ruse on Derrick's part, and he had fallen for it. His face tightened as he grew pissed, and soon he abruptly stood up, picked up his bag from the floor and stormed away to the front door.

Upon opening it, David faintly heard through his brother's perpetual laughter him saying, "Have a good day, brother!"

He responded by swinging the door behind him hard enough to slam it shut, the sound clear and distinct.

XXXXXXXXXX

Soon enough, David met up with a few of his friends on the walk to school, that being Erich, Miho, Anton, Saori, and Mako. The _Panzer_ IV driver was the only one that didn't care much for the murderous look on David's face, instead being more concerned with squirming into a comfortable position on Saori's back so she could sleep for a few more minutes.

Saori and Miho both looked concerned yet also a bit frightened by David's expression. Erich simply raised an eyebrow at the attitude, not fazed in the least. He was curious about what had made David's usually unshakable and uncaring demeanor warp into a look of pure hatred.

"Oh, boy, I know _that_ look," Anton spoke up looking at David directly with a telling look. He was the only one that fully understood why David looked that way, what with being his best friend since they were both children. "Derrick's back, isn't he?" The blonde American said it as if it was a statement rather than a question.

" _Fucking asshole…_ " David grunted out slowly, his frustration very evident.

"Yep, ol' Derrick's back," Anton said in confirmation, fully expecting this kind of behavior out of David in this situation.

"Sound familiar?" Miho whispered to Erich with a teasing grin on her face. In response, Erich mocked her teasing with a silent yakking of his jaws to imitate her chatting while his hand also performed the motion of a mouth opening and closing as if yakking.

The light brunette silently giggled at the blonde's retort. Seeing David pissed with his older brother made her remember similar times where Erich was the same with Alfred. The specific occasion that came to mind first for her was the day when Alfred dyed his hair blonde and wore blue eye contacts to look just like his brother, which he did so he could walk around and act like Erich all day, just to see if anyone would notice the difference.

Erich had eventually run into Alfred, and after a few moments spent comprehending why his brother looked just like him and why there was a crowd watching him yet never the wiser as to the true identity of who they were observing, the blonde uttered pretty much the same thing as David just did: " _du Scheißarschloch._ "

"Seriously, what is _wrong_ with him?" David began to vent his frustrations to everyone else. "He fucking acted like he was losing his memory this morning as a prank, which is such a dick move considering he's endured more concussions than I can count on both hands, yet he still has the nerve to actually _joke_ about it?!"

Miho and Erich glanced at each other, having a silent conversation. ' _You want to try speaking with him?_ ' the blonde's gaze read. ' _I mean, you're great at talking people down and all that._ '

' _This is more your domain than it is mine,_ ' the light brunette pointed out with her own expression. ' _I don't have any older brothers, unlike you._ '

' _But what about-_ ' Erich tried to interject with a look, but was cut off.

' _Having an older sister is not the same thing,_ ' Miho retorted with an expression that dared the blonde to try and disprove her.

And, knowing that Maho very rarely treated Miho that way, the ultra-ace knew he couldn't. ' _Oh, I hate you,_ ' Erich moped about having to speak on the subject, even though he very much didn't want to.

' _No you don't,_ ' Miho returned with a self-assured grin and a sing-song-like tilt of her head.

Defeated and humiliated slightly, the blonde turned to David. "Older brothers are often like that," Erich pointed out with a shrug of his shoulders. "Believe me, I know." He muttered the last statement, fully remembering all the times where Alfred played elaborate pranks on him. Of course, Erich got him back with his own jokes, but Alfred's pranks were so well constructed and laid out that it was impossible for the blonde to notice them beforehand until after the damage was done. To everyone else, it made Erich appear like an idiot, because the Black Devil didn't even have to lift a finger to play jokes on the blonde. It was as if Erich was simply walking into them.

Upon hearing that Erich had prior experience with what David went through, the rest of them turned to Miho, wondering if that was true, that being especially the case for Anton and David. They had never seen Alfred show any sort of emotion whatsoever in all the times they had run into him, so hearing that he did the same typical big brother things to Erich was hard to believe. Since Miho knew everything there was to know about Erich, everyone could rely on her being able to tell them if the blond-haired ultra-ace was telling a tall tale or if he was speaking truth.

"It's true," the light brunette shrugged nonchalantly, giving everyone their answer. Miho then grew a somewhat mischievous grin as she sensed an opportunity to tease Erich a bit more. "Like this one time where his brother cospla-"

" _NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN!_ " Erich immediately cut her off to try and spare himself the humiliation, stomping one of his black combat boots into the ground with each successive utterance of no.

Anton chortled at the unexpected yet still well-played reference to the infamous line from _Inglourious Basterds,_ the same line also causing David to grin as if holding in his own laughter. Saori also got the reference and tried really hard to not laugh either, failing partially.

"Ha ha…" Mako said tiredly from her spot on Saori's back, pitching in with her own relatively subdued reaction.

Miho shook her head with an amused smile at her boyfriend's dramatics. She had to marvel at just how lively Erich made the area around him with his actions. It always amazed her whenever he made everyone in a twenty-meter radius go from irritable to laughing their asses off. It was just one of many reasons why she loved him so.

But she was absolutely telling that story about Alfred cosplaying as Erich flawlessly to the others later, the ultra-ace's pride be damned. It was about time Miho got one-up on the little game they had going with each other to see who could embarrass the other more using their numerous shared moments in time.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	134. Kapitel 27,1,13

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Dreizehn: Belastbarkeit**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"So, Miho…" Anzu began as she drew a discerning gaze over Miho, with a tone reminding the German _Panzerkommandeur_ of the superior she had reported to at Schwarzwaldspitze whenever her sister was otherwise too preoccupied to report herself: one that oozed authority at the seams. The shorter of the two, while a subordinate to Miho in battle, was effectively her direct superior upon stepping out of the hangars, what with her being the school President and all. So it made a lot of sense that Anzu would become serious like this from time to time.

Miho was in Anzu's office, both of them being seated at the table off to the side reserved for strategy meetings. The German girl was at one far end while the Japanese girl was at the other. Also present to Miho's right was Erich, who lazily lied along the couch that lied length-wise with respect to the table, the other side of it being lined with chairs. The blonde appeared utterly bored as he stared up at the ceiling, counting the tiles up there to pass the time.

"You said you had some concerns regarding the whole team?" Anzu prompted, observing the German's response intently.

"Yes," Miho responded with the no-nonsense, no-distractions mindset she dropped into in battle. The Miho speaking now was the so-called Captain Nishizumi. The differences in personality she underwent whenever heading into battle were vast enough that it came naturally to refer to that side of her by a different name entirely. Calculating, fierce, bold, and ruthlessly efficient: all of which and the like described Captain Nishizumi.

The Captain had a folder beneath her folded hands, and with a graceful flick of one hand slid it across the table. It came to a stop squarely in front of the reddish-brown-haired President.

Anzu took it and looked through the papers inside as Miho continued in her same efficient speech pattern, "The imminent lack of spare parts for both the tanks and the aircraft is very concerning, as without them we could end up in battle with numbers much less than ideal due to unserviceability, making it that much more likely we would lose. But parts cost money, especially so for our more capable vehicles whose parts are more advanced in nature and rarer. That's where you come in." She ended with a nod in Anzu's direction.

The twin-tailed President looked away from the papers back to Miho with an appraising look. She had seen the typical parts costs for the major components of all the German vehicles they had, as outlined by Miho, which was quite high compared to the rest of their lineup. She didn't know exactly why that was the case, but Anzu could intelligently guess that it was just typical supply-and-demand. German vehicles were among the most desirable vehicles for Arts of Warfare programs the world over, hence most in demand, but production levels of the German tanks and fighters were nowhere near as high as the production levels of American and Russian equipment, which also had high demand. Naturally, that meant the German equipment would be more expensive by comparison.

"Well…" Anzu began, passing her bright brown eyes slowly over Miho and Erich both, even though the latter was in no way paying any attention. "The costs for all the essential parts is probably not within the budget. Keep in mind I say _probably._ I'll have Yuzu check to be sure. But even if we don't have the money necessary, I'm sure I can find a way to get what we need regardless."

Miho could believe the President's words a hundred percent, as she was extremely skilled in negotiation and bargaining. It was very much her forte, having come to develop the skills during her rule. Her position was not nearly as straightforward as it seemed on the surface. As the President of Ooarai High School, that meant that every school program reported to her. And the amount of programs Ooarai had was indeed numerous, the vast majority of which were not even on school grounds. Many programs, especially those devoted to providing sustenance and maintaining the _Zuikaku,_ operated below decks. These were vital to the ship, so in a sense, Anzu held authority over the entire ship, as she was responsible for making sure everything ran smoothly and, more importantly, prospered. In that light, Miho could see that the twin-tailed girl could one day rule an entire country with ease judging by how successfully she was running the _Zuikaku._ "Understood," the vibrant brunette _Panzerkommandeur_ nodded.

"Are we just going to sit here and pretend she's not sitting on the back of the mountain talker?" Erich nonchalantly said, not taking his eyes off the ceiling and continuing to look bored out of his mind.

The blonde was referring to Aprikose, who, for whatever reason, was being sat upon by Anzu at the head of the table. The twin-tailed President was perched on his back with him down on all fours. Miho snapped out of her Captain Nishizumi mindset and went back to just being Miho upon noticing. And, upon greater thought, she preferred not to ask why Anzu was doing what she was with Aprikose. She could guess this was a rather lewd in nature game they played, her face flushing in kind.

At Erich's 'mountain talker' comment, though, the Bavarian looked up, head just clearing the table, to shoot an offended-but-not-really glare at the blonde. The Bavarian and Swabian often picked on each other in good nature for the way they both talked, with Erich claiming the way Aprikose and the other two Bavarians spoke was so archaic it reminded him of mountain men.

"You disappoint me, for I had hope that you were not so deluded, _Haring,_ " Aprikose returned, calling him a thin, weak man with no presence. "I think the two _fesche Madln_ here can agree with me in deeming you a _Schmarrnbeppi._ " He referred to Miho and Anzu with his 'pretty women' comment and ended with calling Erich an utterer of nonsense.

Erich finally got up into a sitting position on the couch, his full attention on the banter-like sparring of words between him and the Bavarian. "Well, you know that they say-" the retort on his tongue ready to fly.

Both Miho and Anzu sighed with smiles saying they knew this would happen. " _Jungs,_ " they both said simultaneously to get the boys' attention, cutting off Erich in the process. " _Halt._ " Anzu went a step farther and deliberately rested more of her weight on Aprikose's back while using his brown hair as reins, making him strain against the pull and from the increased load he had to bear.

" _Autsch, autsch, autsch, autsch!_ " the Bavarian reacted to the pain. Anzu, satisfied he wouldn't speak up again and continue the bantering, let go of his hair and got off of him. She then took the chair to the right of her own, one that rested along the other long side of the table, while Aprikose stumbled back into Anzu's previous seat.

Though quite obviously reeling from the twin-tailed girl's treatment of him, Aprikose smugly grinned at having the last word after the command to stop. His back and his head would be killing him tomorrow, he could predict, though, thanks to Anzu.

Erich turned to Miho with a pout. "I thought such a smart _Schneggle_ as you would see logic, but _neeeeeiiiii-heeeeeiiiiin…_ " he said to Miho, or the attractive young woman, as he had just referred to her as in the Swabian way. It was obvious he was pretending to have been slighted.

Miho blushed faintly upon the endearment, but made no move to help restart the banter, instead turning to Anzu. "Thanks for hearing out my concerns, _fräulein Präsident,_ " she politely thanked the twin-tailed girl for her time with an appreciative smile. She then flushed a bit upon remembering a small detail about the other half of her personality. "Oh, and sorry if I was rather blunt."

"Eh, no worries," Anzu assured, waving off her apology with a hand. "Your concerns will be resolved, I guarantee."

Miho smiled, satisfied that the meeting went well. Before she and Erich could stand up and leave, though, the blond-haired ultra-ace himself spoke up as if remembering something he wanted to say. "Oh, by the way, Aprikose," he led off, getting the Bavarian's attention.

"What?" the Bavarian looked to Erich in question.

"The 24 Hours of the Nürburgring is coming up soon, you know," Erich notified, referring to the high-profile 24-hour endurance race around Germany's infamous Nürburgring race track. "The Automotive Club's hosting an event this weekend to watch all twenty-four hours of it from start to finish. I thought you might like to come."

"Oh, I am _definitely_ coming," Aprikose confirmed, eyes alive with a flare. "I would not miss seeing BMW triumph over all once again for anything else." The Bavarian was, predictably, a dedicated fan of BMW in motorsports, being from Munich where the Bavarian automaker was based.

"Oh, really?" Erich raised an eyebrow with a challenging grin. "Because I get the feeling that Porsche will beat everyone to the overall victory again this year." In motorsports, the ultra-ace was a proud Porsche fan, having lived only a cross-town's walk away from the sports car maker's research center in Weissach.

"Maybe at Le Mans, that would hold true," the Bavarian conceded with a tilt of his head, acknowledging the record nineteen overall victories Porsche earned at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France to BMW's single overall win. "But at the Nürburgring, they'll have to go through BMW first." He was referring to how at the Nürburgring race, BMW held the record with nineteen overall victories to Porsche's eleven overall wins.

"They _will_ go through BMW," Erich retorted, confident in Porsche coming away victorious. "And they'll kick their _Ärsche_ all the way back to München!"

"Oh, like how Porsche retreated to Stuttgart when they dropped out of sports car racing this year?" Aprikose shot back.

"They're already overflowing with achievements in sports car racing," Erich retorted, his face still holding that competitive shine to it. "It's not like they need more."

"If they're hoping to walk all over everyone in touring cars, then they must have completely forgotten that BMW already does that," Aprikose returned, all too happy to continue the debate. "Porsche may know what they're doing with sports cars, but in touring cars, there's none better than BMW!"

Miho and Anzu both looked to each other with unsurprised looks, and then sighed, shaking their heads. Boys will be boys, they figured.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	135. Kapitel 27,1,14

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Vierzehn: Aufwachen ist ein Kampf**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was another absolutely normal morning aboard the _Zuikaku._ A normal morning aboard the ship, at least for Miho Nishizumi, involved practically waging battle just to wake up her closest companion Erich – made so difficult by the fact that he slept like the dead – followed by meeting up with all of her friends during the walk to school.

Of course, she was obviously the one that had the biggest struggle among her friends in the morning, solely because of how difficult Erich was in the mornings. And it showed more often than not with how the blond-haired ultra-ace had to be dragged along by her every single morning without fail, but she was not the only one among her friends that went through this trial nearly every morning.

"Hey, Miho," Saori got the vibrant brunette's attention as she walked alongside her. The ginger was hunkered down with Mako sleeping on her back, trying to get a few more winks in before the day truly started.

"Hm? What's up, Saori?" Miho responded, turning her gaze toward her friend. Today, the vibrant brunette was able to convince her blond-haired, blue-eyed companion to hug her torso tightly with his arms, leaving him with not having to do anything except hold on tight as she dragged his relatively nonburdensome weight along. Erich was naturally lean in build, there was that, but the overarching reason his weight wasn't a huge bother was because Miho was very much in shape physically.

"I was wondering, since you clearly have experience," Saori began, glancing at the ragdoll form of Erich clinging to Miho's body with an iron grip yet doing nothing else. "Do you have any ideas for, well…" The ginger glanced at the hibernating Mako behind her, and Miho caught what was unsaid easily enough.

"Ah, well…" the _Panzerkommandeur_ grew silent for a second, trying to figure out how to explain. "Nothing I've actually tried short of _this,_ " she focused her gaze behind her on Erich's practically lifeless form dragging along behind her before returning her gaze to Saori, "has actually worked." Miho grew a reminiscent smile briefly, remembering all the failed attempts to get Erich to wake up over the years, before settling her grin into one more assuring and friendly. "But Mako's nothing like _Bubi,_ so it should be a lot easier to find something that'll work on her."

She felt the ultra-ace's grip around her torso shuffle slightly to reaffirm itself as the boy himself began sleep-mumbling, unintelligibly at first. "… Into the motherland, the German army march…" Erich mumbled more coherently into the back of Miho's shirt.

Saori and Miho both raised an eyebrow as they observed the sleep-talking Erich, but the vibrant brunette's other eyebrow soon joined in raising as she came up with an idea. "Actually, what he just said…" she noted as she looked to the ginger again. "That gives me an idea..."

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning in Mako's house, the black-haired _Panzerfahrer_ was doing what she did best in the mornings: sleeping until the apocalypse.

With regards to her dreams, the sleepy tank driver had mysteriously started dreaming about being in the middle of a road march with the _Panzer_ IV H she drove. Her senses told her that this was very much real, judging by the footfalls of soldiers marching along the side of the road, the low rumbling of large-displacement tank engines, and the clattering of tracks, all of which she could also see clearly.

But the thing she found most odd was how there was no conversation taking place inside the tank. Normally, there was some idle chatter between the various tank crew members, but now, all was silent except for the other soldiers and tanks marching forth outside in perfect harmony. Paradoxically, it almost felt too perfect.

" _Into the motherland!  
The German army march!_"

The unexpected and loud, and strangely enough Nordic in nature, voices fizzled out the dream for Mako, leading her to begin awakening. "Huh…?" she muttered confusedly, trying to still resist waking up.

That goal was turned on its head when some double-kick drums rolled briefly, immediately after falling into a slow rhythm alongside an earth-shatteringly loud onslaught of electric guitars. The heavy metal played by the guitars caused Mako to jolt awake and literally jump out of bed with how startled she was. It about gave her a heart attack.

The tank driver stood in her room breathing heavily to regain her breath as she finally started becoming cognizant of the world around her. Eventually, she noticed the source of the heavy metal that had aroused her from slumber as being from her alarm clock, still blasting the music by the way as another distinct guitar melody soon joined in.

Mako could now identify the source of her awakening as being Sabaton's _Panzerkampf,_ and she quickly made the connection, as there was only one person she knew who listened to the Swedish band and also had enough of a death wish as to use their unobjectively loud power metal to wake her up.

"I'm gonna kill him," the _Panzerfahrer_ muttered as her fists clenched. Her face also began darkening with the anger she felt needed to be unleashed. The plan to wake her up had worked, but she was going to make sure that boy would remember to not screw with her in such a way again.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that same morning, everyone else in Miho's little clique of friends were meeting up with each other. To them, it was simply another regular morning, emphasized by Miho's forcible dragging of a sleepy Erich.

That is, until they all caught sight of a fury-faced Mako striding towards them, looking about ready to throw fists. The black-haired _Panzerfahrer_ was fully dressed and prepared for the day, which was paradoxical to most everyone there, as she was never so prepared in the mornings without help.

"What crawled up _her_ ass and died?" David muttered in question as he observed Mako heading for them.

"Whatever it was, it's probably a bad idea to question it if you want to remain on her good side," Anton muttered back from beside him, eyes also on Mako.

"Morning, Ma-!" Saori made to greet her friend with the typical high level of brightness she had, but was cut off.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Mako interrupted with a voice that, while shy of a blatant yell, got her anger across just as well as she made a beeline for Erich.

Miho grew slightly alarmed by the black-haired _Panzerfahrer's_ intentions, and on instinct turned to fully face Mako, putting her between the livid tank driver and Erich. The blonde himself was much the same way as he was yesterday: clinging to the vibrant brunette with an iron grip, yet doing nothing else aside from refusing to wake up. This time, though, he had his arms wrapped around Miho's upper chest and shoulders, practically in a standing position, with his head buried in the side of her neck.

" _Stop,_ " the vibrant brunette commanded with great power injected into her voice. Everyone there was quite familiar with this voice, as it was the same voice used by Captain Nishizumi, Miho's hardened alter-ego that typically only made an appearance in battle. Just like her voice, Miho's face fell into a similarly hardened expression with eyes sharper than daggers.

The highly intimidating look Miho presented was enough to make Mako second-guess wanting to throw Erich overboard, but it did not quell her anger entirely. She knew that there was no reaching the blonde with the vibrant brunette guarding him as she was now. Truth be told, it did surprise her, as it did with everyone else, how Miho had gone into her Captain Nishizumi mindset when confronted with a threat to Erich. Saori, who understood the implications of that, found it both sweet _and_ terrifying.

Upon seeing Mako was no longer attempting to reach Erich, Miho blinked and dropped back into her normal mindset. "Okay, Mako," she began as she slowly released a breath, now fully in the mindset to be understanding. "What's going on?"

"That _child,_ " the tank driver practically snarled out, sharply pointing to Erich with one finger, "changed my alarm clock so it blasted that metal music of his at full volume! It nearly gave me a fucking heart attack!"

The _Panzerkommandeur_ thought for a bit at Mako's accusation, until shortly realizing what it was she was so mad about. "Oh…" she went, realizing that the fault lied not with Erich. "Ah, well you see, Mako… that was actually _my_ idea…" ' _Gah, how could I have forgotten she has heart problems?_ ' she thought with a horrible feeling in her gut. ' _I'm the worst friend ever…_ '

Mako lost her anger at that and instead looked to Miho with disbelief in her eyes. There was no way she believed that kind-hearted Miho would've done that to her.

"Well, actually…" Saori spoke up, leading everyone to turn to her. "She only _suggested_ the idea." The ginger looked down for a split-second out of guilt before looking up again, resolve strong. " _I_ was the one who asked and actually carried it out."

Now that, Mako could believe. Also, the tank driver couldn't even be mad at her best friend for that, as she knew that Saori knew just how much she could take. If given the opportunity, Saori would absolutely do such a thing again, because she knew Mako could handle it, however torturous it may have been. She knew the tank driver's limits well enough. The _Panzerfahrer_ knew that the guilt the ginger briefly showed was not for her. Rather, it was for innocents getting caught in the middle.

Mako looked over to Saori with narrowed eyes, as if pissed still. " _Fuck you…_ " she slowly and quietly enunciated.

The ginger smiled brightly in response, knowing that the tank driver didn't really mean anything bad by her insult. Saori knew that, while Mako may whine and complain about her attempts to wake her up, she never was truly mad with her for them. They both knew it was for the greater good.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	136. Kapitel 27,1,15

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Fünfzehn: Mein eigenes Santa**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey, _tovarishchi…_ " Ivan the short-statured I-16 pilot began, glancing to his fellow comrades seated around him. "Just curious, but how long did your belief in Santa Klaus last?"

Katyusha stopped her walk-around of one of Pravda's courtyards upon hearing what Ivan Grozny said. Ivan Grozny, or Ivan the Terrible, was by now a common, sarcastic nickname for the diminutive _Ishak_ pilot, as Katyusha had flown into many a huge fit of rage due to something terrible and unfortunate happening because of him. The short-statured Russian tanker swore he was the living representation of bad luck.

But Katyusha stopped ever the same behind a hedge just to listen in for a bit, out of idle curiosity. There on the benches were Ivan and one of his plane's ground crew, Igor, Katyusha believed his name was. In addition, there was Nina and Alina, which the diminutive blonde idly thought as being appropriate company, as those two girls were also often responsible for some of the bad luck plaguing Pravda.

"I was discouraged from believing in Santa growing up," Igor responded with a tone lacking any emotion whatsoever. His face was drawn in a similar way.

" _Bakh,_ that's because your parents are still Soviets at heart," Ivan scoffed and waved a hand in dismissal. "They're even more hardheaded than the armor on your tank!" He turned his head to address Nina and Alina partway through.

Igor inclined his head in acknowledgment. Nina and Alina both looked between everyone there with a few soft huffs of laughter escaping them every now and then from Ivan's little joke. Katyusha rolled her eyes at the cheesiness.

"Alina? What about you?" Ivan nodded his head to her after his prompting.

" _Akh, khmm…_ " Alina hummed, leaning forward and resting her head on her fist in thought. "Actually, I can't really remember..." She raised her head again and sat up, looking to everyone else. "I've believed in Santa Klaus for such a long time that I can't pinpoint exactly _when_ I had started believing in him."

Katyusha had heard enough and decided to continue her walk as she came around the hedge she was standing behind. The distinctive clicking of heels – her own – echoed against the ground as she walked near the foursome of naivety.

The sound of Katyusha's walking caught the attention of the four on the benches, and upon turning to see what was making the sound, dread filled them.

Nina quickly beckoned them all with her hand to stand up, and all four stood up hastily in line, each with a foot-stomp of acknowledgment and a salute to Katyusha as they stood at alert. The Russian tank commander altered her walk so she slowly paced before them all, gazing upon each of them.

" _Tovarishch Kapitan! Kha-kha…_ " Nina acknowledged with a highly intimidated grin from just being in the great Katyusha's presence. A nod from the short-statured leader of Pravda had them all dismissing their salutes and standing at ease. "What brings you here?"

"Just checking to see if you all broke something else yet," Pravda's leader flippantly responded as she continued slowly pacing before the foursome of misfortune, crossing her arms and looking all high and mighty. She knew that the four of them had no idea she was just listening in on them a minute ago, judging by their panicked reaction to seeing her, but she decided to play dumb and test their integrity. "What were you all just talking about?" She raised an eyebrow with her question.

" _Akh,_ well we were just discussing how long each of us had believed in Santa Klaus! _Kha-kha…_ " Nina reported, still trying to be nice and thoughtful, though she looked suitably nervous as well after their leader's blatant criticism of them all.

No one else bothered speaking up, fearing Katyusha's wrath if they were to say something wrong. So instead they all silently agreed that Nina would take the flak.

Nina swallowed thickly and noted her dear _Kapitan_ was still staring at her like she was an idiot. "B-but of course Santa Klaus _does_ exist, right, _tovarishch Kapitan?_ " she stammered out, feeling like she was due for another trip to the gulag.

Katyusha stopped and stomped one of her heeled feet, frightening the others into not speaking. "Don't act stupid!" she sharply retorted as her hands came back down to her sides, clenching into fists. "Of _course_ Santa Klaus exists!" The diminutive _Kapitan_ brought a hand up to gesture to herself. "I've even seen him with my own eyes!"

Bringing her hand back down, Katyusha launched into a story as she paced before the foursome of misfortune again, "It was just last year, too. I remember it clear as crystal. The night before _rozhdestvo,_ I was sleeping out by where the stockings hung, but in the middle of the night I felt someone's presence and awakened. I was groggy due to just waking up, but I remember seeing someone slinking out of the room. Whoever it was had been wearing Santa's typical red and white fluffy garb, but I distinctly remember him having really blonde hair. He also wasn't fat at all, actually looking kind of average in his build. But what I remember the most was the stench of grease, and not grease like you would find after cooking meat. No, this grease had an oily smell to it as well. It reminded me of the hangars whenever maintenance is going on. Now, I didn't follow him since I was way too tired to do much of anything, but after turning my gaze from the exit I remembered seeing a gift placed beside where I was. I opened it up next morning and got _these._ " The _Kapitan_ lifted one of her feet to show off the dark green heels she had gotten as a gift. They added precious, precious centimeters to her height, and went well with Pravda's uniform, as well.

Ivan, Igor, Nina, and Alina all knew exactly who Katyusha's personal Santa was, but they remained silent ever the same, just to avoid spoiling who it was. Their faces all held faint traces of amusement from their _Kapitan's_ strong belief in her particular Santa.

At the other side of the courtyard, observing from behind a hedge, was Sasha. " _Blyad'!_ " he hissed out a curse. He tapped his left ear, where a small headset rested. " _Tovarishchi,_ I've been compromised…"

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	137. Kapitel 27,1,16

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Sechzehn: Ultimative Kombination**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

" _Achoo!_ " sneezed someone who sounded ironically like a child.

Because the voice was childlike in nature, it was obvious whose it was: the one and only Katyusha, who was presently blowing her nose with a tissue being held by Nonna. The rest of her typical inner circle was present as well, with Sasha and Nudelmann. The two boys were quirking their eyebrows up in bafflement at the midget Russian's odd behavior.

" _Please_ do not tell me you're actually affected by the cold…" Sasha said, crossing his arms and lowering his raised eyebrow. He was referring to the present temperature of where they were outside, which was well below freezing up in the Arctic circle. It was uncharacteristic of any Russian aboard the _Kiev_ to be burdened with a cold due to the temperature, even more so for the hardened members of the Arts of Warfare programs that commonly fought in such frigid conditions.

"Sasha, do me a solid favor and shut up!" Katyusha turned and retorted, her voice sounding a little runny from her cold. Nonna gently grabbed her chin with one hand and turned her head back to face her, letting the taller girl finish cleaning up the shorter's nose.

"He does have a point, however," Nudelmann stated, lowering his own eyebrow and crossing his arms. "You've always endured cold like the rest of us." By that, he referred to how none of them were so much as fazed by readings of double-digits below zero on the thermometer. It was a Russian thing, to say the least. "It's real concerning, then, if you _are_ being affected now."

"It's no colder than it normally is up here," Nonna noted as she stood back up to her full height, crumpling up the tissue now that Katyusha was done with it. "But the fact still stands that you're freezing and in need of a way to warm up." The diminutive tank commander lifted a finger and prepared a sharp retort to the contrary, but the tall IS-2 gunner pressed on. "Don't even try and argue with me, Yekaterina."

Katyusha's retort silenced itself in her throat upon hearing the seriousness in Nonna's tone, and she lost any spark to argue upon that realization. The usage of her full name by her inner circle normally indicated that whoever said it was dead serious about whatever it was they were bringing up to her.

"… Fine…" Katyusha relented, albeit grudgingly. She then put on her thinking face, with one fist under her chin, and spent a few seconds brainstorming up ideas to keep warm.

"Whatever your idea is, please just promise us that it won't involve any of our untimely deaths," Sasha commented upon seeing the midget Russian start to think, something he could've joked about as being a rare sight.

"I'll be sure to plan _your_ untimely death the next time you say or do something that annoys me!" After her sharp retort, Katyusha then sneezed again, which made her statement fall flat on its face. Nonna immediately pulled out another tissue and bent down to help clean her nose. " _Spasibo…_ " she muttered a thank-you with a runny voice before blowing her nose once more.

Feeling the body heat given off by Nonna's close proximity made the diminutive tank commander start thinking harder as an idea started to blossom.

Katyusha snapped her fingers upon determining her idea was a good idea. "I've got it!" she proclaimed in enlightenment. She then turned to Nudelmann. "Let's do _that!_ "

Both Sasha and Nonna raised an eyebrow. Nudelmann didn't, for a reason that neither the blonde pilot nor the sharpshooting young woman knew.

" _Tak tochno, tovarishch kapitan,_ " the giant-in-height Russian professionally responded before immediately opening up his outer shirt.

"'That?'" the tall IS-2 gunner asked, lost as to what Katyusha's current train of thought was.

"Is there something going on here that we don't know about?" the blonde flying ace inquired, with not-all-that-innocent thoughts running through his head.

What followed was one of the oddest things Sasha and Nonna had ever seen, which was saying something: as Russians, they had both seen a _lot_ of odd things happen over the years. For instance, they both recalled that one time where someone drove a T-34-85 through a wall into a classroom, and the crew getting out and falling into their seats without a second thought as to the looks they were getting. Upon being asked, the students responsible for it simply said that they were running late.

But now they both witnessed Katyusha jump up and wrap herself around Nudelmann's torso, manipulating herself so the front of her torso was pressed against the giant Russian's back with her arms coming over his shoulders, locking over his upper chest, and her legs wrapping around his lower torso. Afterwards, Nudelmann put his outer shirt back on to cover her up.

What remained was a Nudelmann that looked somewhat grunt-like, appearing to have a massively hunched back. Either that, or he appeared to have a massive mutilation of his back.

As he began to walk on, the giant Russian noticed Sasha and Nonna staring at him. Nonna had a blank face, only because of a lot of experience in doing so, but the intrigue on Sasha's face was obvious.

Nudelmann didn't bother questioning them, and simply raised an eyebrow. "Well?" he prompted. "You coming?"

That did the trick as the other two came back to attention and accompanied Nudelmann. They hung back a bit from the giant Russian.

Sasha took the opportunity to hold a whispered conversation with Nonna. "So what do we call them now that they're one?" he wondered to her. The IS-2 sharpshooter glanced at him. "Katyunudel? Mannusha?"

Having no desire to hear two of her closest friends talked about in such a way, Nonna made him shut up by deftly yanking his ear.

" _Oy oy oy oy!_ " the blonde protested in pain as the black-haired Russian girl kept downward pressure applied. "Okay, I get it! Let go!"

Without a word, Nonna let go. Immediately after, Sasha maintained at least a two-meter distance from her as he rubbed his ear, just outside of her range of reach. He gave a nasty look to the crack shot, who was completely unfazed by such a gesture.

"Are you two quite finished?" Nudelmann asked from ahead of them, sounding unamused.

Both Nonna and Sasha gave one last glance to each other before speeding their pace up to walk alongside their giant comrade.

One thing that stood out to them both was the sound of light snoring coming from Nudelmann. Not him specifically, rather his tiny concealed passenger. Sasha scoffed, finding it annoyingly typical of Katyusha to fall asleep while the rest of them did all the work. Nonna instead simply hid her smile, finding the action cute.

" _AAAAAKH!_ " all of them minus Katyusha heard soon. The necks of Nudelmann, Nonna, and Sasha all whipped around to the source, an utterly terrified Ivan. The short-statured I-16 pilot – also known by the sarcastic nickname Ivan Grozny, or Ivan the Terrible – was pointing directly at Nudelmann. "It's Sasha's Monster!"

They all watched Ivan run off screaming bloody murder about Sasha's Monster to everyone he ran into. The blonde Russian fighter pilot found the entire scenario understandable concerning Nudelmann's very unnatural appearance with Katyusha wrapped around his back underneath his shirt, yet also very insulting.

"What the devil made him think I would do something as sick as create a monster?!" Sasha launched into a brief tirade as he, Nudelmann, and Nonna all continued on. "The only monster I would ever create would be mechanical in nature, not through a resurrected corpse or because of a chemical accident or some other weird shit!"

"But you admit you _would_ create a monster?" Nonna asked, having randomly fixated on that tidbit as soon as it passed the blonde pilot's lips.

Sasha shot a look at her, as if it was obvious. "Have you been living under a rock?" he verbalized just how obvious it was. He flung his arms out with his next sentence. "Of _course_ I would create a monster if it came down to it! Just not one that's all disgusting like what that guy thought! I leave that level of sick stuff to Schwarzwaldspitze! They've got _plenty_ of experience in that area if that incident with their Biology Club was any indication!"

Nonna probably shouldn't have asked her next question, but she did anyway, "Which incident specifically? There were several."

Sasha looked at her as if she was the biggest idiot on the face of the planet. "Which incident-does it even _matter?!_ " he retorted, still in ranting mode. "The fact that they had _multiple_ incidents only proves my point even more!"

Nudelmann just ignored his other comrades for the rest of their journey. They were both idiots anyway.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	138. Kapitel 27,1,17

**_The Legends Still Live On_**

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Siebzehn: Briefe**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _Kiev,_ it was just another ordinary day.

Keep in mind that in this case, 'ordinary' often meant things like T-34s driving in traffic, an old building collapsing either under the weight of its Soviet-era quality or because a T-34 drove through it, and at least one case a day of flipped T-34s because of either horrible driving or due to roads so horrible that they couldn't even be called roads in the loosest sense. All this and more happened practically every day. That was the way of life in glorious Mother Russia.

Over within the _Stavka_ – the slang term adopted for the offices of the leaders of Pravda's Arts of Warfare programs – work was being undertaken where appropriate. That meant various things depending on the person.

For Katyusha, she was busy pretending to listen to a report being given by Nina and Alina while lounging in the big comfy chair at her excessively large desk. She was only bothering with pretending to listen just to make Nonna happy that she was doing _some_ work. If she had it her way, she wouldn't even bother hearing two of the troublemaker foursome.

For Nudelmann, he was just shooting an SVD rifle out the large window behind the miniature tank commander at random people – using rubber bullets – to exercise his marksmanship. Normally, he would use his PTRS anti-tank rifle for such things, but since he was shooting from inside a room that was not very well ventilated to the outside save for the window opening he was shooting from, he would've blown out everyone's eardrums from just how loud that rifle was and how that sound would have had nowhere to go. And he was pretty sure nobody would've appreciated that. Hence, why he chose to borrow Nonna's lighter _Dragunova_ for the occasion.

Sasha was making various elaborate creations using only paper, in the form of various written reports and requests. His own desk – greatly inferior to Katyusha's desk in size, because she always got the best while everyone else got the worst – had no free real estate on it with everything he had crafted thus far. Such creations included a scale model of a _Kirov_ -class missile-armed battlecruiser, a scaled-down replication of the Russian cruiser _Aurora_ – which was absolutely flawless, as Sasha had grown up in St. Petersburg and had seen the museum ship up close where it was docked in the city – and a scale model of a Tupolev Tu 160 supersonic variable-sweep-wing strategic bomber, along with several other smaller creations.

That was the scene which welcomed Nonna as she entered the large room with a stack of envelopes already appearing to be sealed and addressed. As she headed to Katyusha's desk, the raven-haired crack shot had a slight mirthful grin seeing that everything was exactly as she predicted it to be. She knew her best friends well. Though she did make a mental note to confront Nudelmann at once if she found anything was out of whack with her _Dragunova._

Coming to a stop just behind Nina and Alina, Nonna took advantage of the turn in Katyusha's attention to shuffle her feet professionally and speak up, " _Tovarishch kapitan,_ your fan mail has arrived."

That seemed to light up Katyusha's entire being. " _Otlichno!_ " she exclaimed in delight as she stood up. "I want to see what the good people of the world wish to say to me now!"

With that, Nonna came around the other side of the desk and the two of them started going through the letters, reading through each one. The diminutive commander was quite enthusiastic about the whole ordeal, likely because it fed her massive ego even more.

Nina and Alina both witnessed this, and it was, to put it simply, a unique experience. While Katyusha was well known for having a gargantuan ego, it was _not_ particularly well known just how much she treasured having a fanbase. It was easily assumed she cared not a smidgen for any of her fans, only for herself, but that was as far from the truth as physically possible. She _loved_ being praised, and her fan mail was just proof that she was indeed praised by many. Suffice to say she was on an ego trip now.

" _Vau, tovarishch kapitan_ is like a celebrity, isn't she?" Nina observed with an idle grin.

"I'll say," Alina agreed before crossing her arms casually, wearing a similar casual smile. "Her popularity amongst the people has skyrocketed ever since she appeared on television during last year's Finals match."

Sasha's eye twitched at hearing Alina bring up last year's Finals match, the one the world believed to be when Pravda had at last triumphed over their arch-rival Schwarzwaldspitze. But he was there that day, and he knew that was not what had really happened. In his eyes, Pravda had merely gotten lucky, or Schwarzwaldspitze had gotten unlucky, whichever way one chose to see it.

By now, the whole world knew the tale of Miho Nishizumi, and as such, they all knew of her actions in that particular Finals match where she had chosen to abandon her post to rescue some of her comrades that were in peril not by Pravda's forces, but by the wrath of Mother Nature.

But perhaps lesser known, and the side of the story that Sasha obsessed over the most, was what had occurred with Erich-Dietrich Hartmann up in the air. The common consensus was that something had happened to lead to his elimination, which many viewed as the turning point of the battle, as it had gone slowly downhill for Schwarzwaldspitze from that point on. But, unlike with Miho's case, there was no footage of what occurred, and as such, details on what occurred were extremely scarce, even now after a year had passed. It seemed only the blond-haired German ultra-ace knew the full story, as none of the people closest to him – in particular Miho and Maho Nishizumi and his brother Alfred-Joachim Hartmann, the Black Devil – were able to say anything on the matter. Hence, only theories could be spoken of as to what happened to _Bubi_ that day.

That very much bothered Sasha: because that, alongside the incident with Miho, had happened, it had called into question among the _Stavka_ whether or not Pravda had truly _earned_ that victory. The blonde Russian ace had vehemently denied that they had earned that victory, because outside circumstances had just so happened to play out in their favor. They did not win because of their own skill. They had gotten _lucky,_ and nobody could say otherwise. That left the amateur engineer bitter about that victory. Because of the huge rivalry between Pravda and Schwarzwaldspitze, Sasha would only consider it a true victory if they managed to defeat their German adversaries by sheer battle skill alone. They did _not_ win that Finals match, no matter what the media said.

"So how are you going to reply to _that?_ " Nonna asked Katyusha after they both read one letter that gave them pause due to its message.

The diminutive commander waited a second before responding, "… But I'm seventeen!" She had quite a bit of disbelief in her voice, as if she couldn't fathom that the letter said what it said.

That had roused the attention of both Nudelmann and Sasha. The giant one shot one last round from Nonna's SVD out the window at some unlucky soul before removing the clip, engaging the rifle's safety, and slinging it over his shoulder. After that process, he stalked up behind the two girls to read the letter. The blonde flying ace stood up from behind his desk and strode over to beside Nudelmann, where he read the letter as well.

The letter itself said, ' _My name is Lydia. I'm six years old. How old is Katyusha? Can Katyusha be in my class and be my very best friend?_ ' The writing was obviously that of a child, if the age of the writer didn't already state it: while appearing to have had a lot of effort put into writing each letter neatly, the end result still looked quite unrefined.

Sasha had to press his lips together to avoid bursting out into hilarious laughter, because this was just _gold._ Looking to his side, he saw Nudelmann glancing back at him while doing much the same, though he was doing a far better job at hiding it. Eventually, the both of them just decided, fuck it, and roared in laughter.

" _KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA!_ " the two Russian boys threw their heads back and laughed hard enough for everyone in the immediate area outside the Stavka to hear. " _KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA!_ "

That startled Katyusha into looking behind her, only just becoming aware that the boys were standing behind reading over her shoulder. Nonna looked back with far more grace, though she wisely took a step back away from everything upon processing the situation, as she could already see from a kilometer away that the diminutive commander would not react to this very well if her darkening gaze and slight twitch of the eye was any indication.

A day later, a video of the furious tirade Katyusha flew into – taken by Nina while she and Alina were ignored – was put up on the internet. It gained a million views in the first hour.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_

 _ **Special thanks to**_ **ChillingComrade** _ **for his Russian expertise.**_


	139. Kapitel 27,1,18

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Achtzehn: Nach dem Untergang**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The day's order for the _Zuikaku_ was not an entirely friendly one this time.

Why was that? Oh, nothing sinister, rest assured. It was just quite windy this day aboard the ship. That was to be expected while sailing up in the Bering Sea in the middle of autumn. Sea breezes up there could easily become full-on snowstorms if it was so willed. But they, thankfully, remained on the level of just mildly intense winds.

Such conditions were unfavorable to many people of Ooarai. But there was at least one person aboard who wasn't overly fond of such extreme levels of cold and wasn't afraid to let the world know it.

" _Bah, warum gibt es so Scheißwetter…_ " Erich-Dietrich Hartmann groaned and whined about why there was such shitty weather. The strong breezes left him twitching slightly from the wind chill, and with that, left him more irritable. " _Ergh, ich HASSE diese eiskalte BRISEN!_ " He made a show of his detestation of the chilly winds by inflecting his voice just so and throwing his hands down in a fit.

Miho Nishizumi, by his side and completely tame, simply rolled her eyes at the dramatic performance. "Careful about ranting, _Bubi,_ " she said. "Otherwise you might become like _herr Präsident._ "

Erich looked to the vibrant brunette by his side with a raised eyebrow, not comprehending for a second. "… What does Aprikose have to do with anything?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Miho rolled her eyes again, but this time grew a smile, finding the blonde's confused expression cute. "No, not him," she responded. She then looked back at him. "Our _past herr Präsident._ " She was sure to emphasize 'past.'

After a few seconds of deep thought, Erich seemed to understand. "Oh, _him…_ " he went in realization.

The 'him' they were both referring to was the Student Council President, or _Schulratspräsident_ to be technically correct, of Schwarzwaldspitze while they were there. According to Maho and Alfred, he still held the position today. But what made Miho bring him up was because he was well known for flying into rants. A good number of them were harmless, being mainly about more trivial things like how there was a shortage of his favorite type of sausages or how his computer crashed. The rest of the _Schulrat_ often pulled pranks on him just to get him to go on a tirade, because his rants were _very_ entertaining. They were found to be very amusing for how over-the-top they were, especially compared to the often-trivial subjects that incited them in the first place.

Miho could recall at least one of those times, however, where his rants were genuine and filled to the brim with venom. And that instance was what stopped her from wanting to even _think_ his name.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was after the lost battle against Pravda last year. As if everybody wasn't on edge enough as is, the fact that the _Schulratspräsident_ had called a mass meeting with the leaders of all the _Arbeitsgemeinschaften_ – or AGs for short, the term used officially for clubs – brought even more tension into the arena.

" _… und dann hier wir waren umgeben von Prawda, wo wir unseres Ende trafen,_ " Maho finished her report on how the battle with Pravda had unfolded in detail from the ground, before standing up straight, away from the map of the battlefield that was brought onto the table for her to use in her explanation. Directly to either side her were Miho and Alfred, similarly straight in posture and, also like her, wearing their black and red battle attire. Around and behind them all were the rest of the AG heads.

" _Ich möchte danach… mit dem Staffelführer sprechen,_ " the _Schulratspräsident_ spoke, voice quiet, but everyone knew this docile version of him was ready to turn into the ranting leader they all knew. The fact that he wished to speak with Erich afterwards was foreboding in its own right. The black-haired _Präsident_ sitting on the other side of the table from the three warriors, who himself also wore some stylish glasses and Schwarzwaldspitze's gray suit uniform, had made some hand gestures whilst speaking with a hand that held a couple of pencils, giving off an image saying he couldn't be bothered presently with the matter.

Miho shot a glance at Maho, knowing what was likely to happen if it was discovered they had held back on information regarding Erich. That was where the elder Nishizumi dared to speak up again, " _Herr Präsident… Hartmann…_ " While her facial expression changed hardly any, it was still obvious she was hesitant to speak.

" _Erich ist an Bord nicht mehr,_ " Alfred summoned the courage to say what Maho didn't have the heart to admit: that Erich was no longer aboard the _Graf Zeppelin,_ and in fact nowhere to be found at all. " _Des Weiteren, er ist nirgends zu finden._ "

For several seconds, everything inside the room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop with clarity. And everyone could feel how the energy focused in the _Präsident._ This was a familiar scene to many of them, but it still left a chill in the air whenever it occurred.

The first sign was a twitching of one of the _Präsident's_ eyebrows. Then, with a hand that was trembling with pent-up energy, he shakily removed his glasses and set them down as gently as he could, before speaking up in a deathly quiet voice, " _Es bleiben im Raum: Nischisumi, Nischisumi… und Hartmann._ "

Somewhat unrelated, the pronunciation of the Nishizumi name was difficult for any of the Germans to get correct as-is, so a phonetically-spelled version, using the sounds characteristic to the German alphabet, was created to make it easier. In short, 'Nishizumi' written phonetically in German ended up as ' _Nischisumi._ ' Both were pronounced the exact same, but ' _Nischisumi_ ' was a lot easier for everyone else to get. That name was only used to help with pronunciation, however; 'Nishizumi' still appeared on all official documentation.

Anyway, with the order given, all of the other AG leaders shuffled back out of the room, with Maho, Miho, and Alfred staying behind as commanded. Alfred had a face of the toughest Krupp steel as he stood there, head held high. Maho was similar, though she did take a breath to prepare herself. Miho glanced at her sister again, as a way to calm herself before the inevitable. She herself wasn't feeling so confident in herself after shouldering her own burdens as a result of her own maverick-like behavior that match. Well, that and it was usually Erich who grounded her in moments like these. Now that he had disappeared, it was a tall order for her to remain strong.

Also staying behind were two of the _Präsident's_ lackeys, demonstrating their loyalty by standing off to the side behind him, yet wisely staying out of the impending line of fire. When the last person left and shut the door, the _Präsident_ looked up at each of the three warriors, and all hell was unleashed.

" _Das ist unglaublich!_ " the _Präsident_ began with anger coloring his voice at the unbelievability of what happened, the hand holding his pencils brought up in a fist. " _Dieses lächerliche Verhalten ist UNGLAUBLICH!_ " He became more animated with his hand as his ranting prowess resurfaced once again, looking as if ready to throw his pencils across the room. He was absolutely pissed off at the ridiculous behavior he saw as unbelievable. He raised his hand up to point as he continued ranting. " _Wer ist er, dass er es wagen, sich seinem Dienst zu widersetzen?!_ "

Just outside the door, the rest of the AG leaders and some other lesser _Schulrat_ members were listening to their _Präsident's_ massive tirade against the Nishizumis and the _Staffelkapitän._ They heard how the _Präsident_ had questioned who Erich thought he was, to go against his duties. " _So weit ist es also gekommen?_ " the rant continued as the _Präsident_ wondered if this was what it has come to. Everyone outside looked amongst each other in concern for what was happening.

One of the girls there started breaking down as she started to silently sniffle, eyes scrunched tight at having to hear such poisoned words, knowing that those on the other side had done nothing to deserve it. Another young woman nearby leaned in with a gentle hand to give comfort to her, though she herself was also worried about what was happening.

" _Der Staffelführer hat verlassen!_ " everyone standing outside heard the proclamation that Erich had deserted. All they could do is hope for those on the other side to survive the encounter.

" _Und er hat uns alle runtergebracht,_ " the _Präsident_ continued ranting with a shaking fist, saying the blond-haired ultra-ace had brought them all down with him. He then got up and started slowly pacing on his side of the table, continuing his tirade in the meantime, being sure to wave his fist around also. " _Das unreifes, unausgegorenes Kind ist nichts mehr weiter als ein niederträchtiger, TREULOSER FEIGLING!_ " He looked at the three of them as he said those words, with his fist swinging at ' _treuloser Feigling._ '

Hearing Erich be referred to as an immature, callow child, and furthermore as nothing more than a vile, faithless coward, was where Miho drew the line. She would not let anyone refer to her best friend, and crush, in such a disrespectful way, even if he was public enemy number one as he seemingly was presently to Schwarzwaldspitze. How dare they dishonor him so when he had _bled_ for them all, _literally._ So she spoke up, talking fast in hopes she wouldn't get cut off, " _Herr Präsident ich kann nicht zulassen, dass mein Freund, die für uns alle blutete-_ "

" _Nichts als ein FEIGLING!_ " the _Präsident_ fiercely cut her off with a wave of the hand holding his pencils in the younger Nishizumi's direction, stopping his slow pacing. Nothing but a coward, he insisted. " _EIN VERRÄTER, EIN VERSAGER!_ " In the midst of his raging tirade, he saw fit to call Erich a traitor and a failure as well. He was on a roll.

" _Herr Präsident, was Sie da sagen, ist ungeheuerlich!_ " Miho responded, being sure to speak quickly again to reduce the chances of her getting cut off. Finding it pointless to argue further, she settled with respectfully countering with a claim that what the _Präsident_ was saying was monstrous. Both Maho and Alfred glanced over to her. The elder Nishizumi in this moment was proud of her sister for standing up for her beliefs in the face of such adversity, while the Black Devil was simply thankful that she was willing to defend his brother, even when no one else would.

" _So Sie sind ebenfalls ein Geschmeiß des unseren Volkes,_ " the _Präsident_ spat out with a poison tongue to rival a snake, ending with fiercely throwing down his pencils onto the table. Each of them bounced off the surface and then went off who knew where. It didn't matter to him when the brunette in front of him was also the vermin of their people for her willingness to defend Erich. " _SIE SIND OHNE EHRE!_ "

A beat passed where nothing was said after the exclamation that the younger Nishizumi had no honor, but that passed quickly enough when the _Präsident_ continued his rant, looking into the vibrant brunette's similarly-colored eyes, " _Sie nennen sich eins von unseren Krieger._ " He brought up a finger as he continued. " _Aber Sie Jahre an einem Verräter vertraut haben, einer, der es weiß nicht, wie man Messer und Gabel hält!_ " His hand came up partway through and flung around a bit showing how pissed he was, with the last half of his sentence being said in an even angrier tone.

Miho was proud to call herself a warrior of Schwarzwaldspitze, but hearing that young man on the other side of the table saying she had trusted a traitor for years, one that knew not how to wield a knife and fork… it got to her. Her exterior still stood strong, but in her head, she was crying to make it stop.

" _So lange hat dass Feigling unsere Aktionen nur verhindert!_ " those outside in the receiving area heard loud and clear. One concerned young woman that had just entered the area slowly padded closer to hear better, shuffling her way past the others. That was quite a phrase to hear upon just entering the area, that for years a coward had been hindering their actions.

" _Er hat uns jeden nur erdenklichen Widerstand!_ " the _Präsident_ continued, heavily smacking the table twice with one of his hands at ' _Widerstand_ ' as he closed with Miho in particular, pausing for only the briefest of moments for air. " _In den Weg gelegt!_ "

The dark brown eyes looking up into the _Vizekapitän's_ own bright brown irises were full of sheer malice. Again, he was bashing Erich tremendously, claiming that he had only put every conceivable obstacle in Schwarzwaldspitze's way.

Lifting up a fist to his chest, the _Präsident_ continued, " _Ich hätte gut daran getan…_ " A brief pause, then he continued, becoming animated once again with his rage, flinging his hand out with his ranting again. " _… vor langer Zeiten dem Staffelführer zu Russland zu schicken, MIT KATJUSCHA!_ " He flung out his hand very aggressively at ' _mit Katjuscha,_ ' even more angered at having to mention the leader of Schwarzwaldspitze's biggest foes by name, especially after being defeated by her.

As the _Präsident_ calmed down enough to sit in his chair again, Miho found herself holding her tongue. She wanted to say that Erich was worth quite a lot, that it would've been a stupid idea to have sent him to Russia a long time ago like the ranting leader had just expressed his desire for. But the girl did not speak up, as she knew she would only add to the fire.

" _Sie sind unser ganzer Stolz,_ " the Präsident spoke, in a quieter, calmer, more weary voice to Maho, Miho and Alfred together. He brought his hands up, gesturing to the three of them. " _Und Sie waren so nah._ " He made a few light taps of the table with his hands. " _Allein auf Sie gestellt…_ " He then lifted his hands into fists. " _… hat die ganze Welt fast erobert._ "

They were all told that the Arts of Warfare programs were Schwarzwaldspitze's entire pride, but it was immediately embittered by the reminder that they had come so close to conquering the world's competition. So close, yet so far.

Miho took the following silence as an opportunity to glance at Maho and Alfred. The two of them were still standing strong, which paradoxically made her feel worse. It stung to her that the two of them couldn't speak in defense of Erich unless they wished to jeopardize their positions.

" _Gottverdammt…_ " the ranting young man on the other side of the table sighed before turning in his chair, facing the wall to his left and lowering his head.

That calm didn't last long as his ranting prowess resurfaced, " _Alle wegen ihm an sind wir so verraten und betrogen worden!_ "

Though it was impossible to tell visually, it took quite an effort for Maho and Alfred to hold their tongues with that most recent accusation. All Erich's fault that they had all been so betrayed and deceived? Yeah, no. That wasn't Erich at all, not one bit.

" _Es war ein ungeheuerer Verrat geübt vom einem Feigling!_ " the ranting _Präsident_ continued, further claiming it was such a monstrous betrayal from a coward. Miho had to breathe again to keep herself from breaking. Whether she would've broken into anger or tears, she did not know. Perhaps she would've done both, had she not been able to calm herself.

" _Aber dieser Scheißverräter wird bezahlen,_ " he swore to make that fucking traitor pay. He let out all the hostility in him with his next two statements. " _Mit seinem eigenen Blut wird er bezahlen!_ " He looked to all three of them again. " _Er wird ERSAUFEN in seinem eigenen BLUT!_ "

Everyone outside heard the _Präsident_ claim Erich would pay for his betrayal with his own blood, and, furthermore, that he would be drowned in it. Those two statements were enough to make one of the girls listening in start audibly sniffling. The girl next to her saw. " _Bitte, mein Freund!_ " she quietly pleaded with a hand on her back. " _Jetzt beruhig dich doch!_ "

Surprisingly, the girl did calm herself down immediately as asked, though she still shed tears over how toxic the air was with one of the few serious rants the _Schulratspräsident_ had. The air felt like it could choke everyone outside simply through how poisonous the _Präsident's_ voice was.

Inside, the ranting young man himself faced the side again. The tirade was at last over. " _Das Junge ist in den Wind verloren…_ " he said, voice quiet and weary now, how Erich was lost in the wind. " _So viel… Talent hatte er auch, was das noch trauriger macht… Es ist aus._ "

Hearing that he was also upset deep down about Erich disappearing was almost enough to make Miho break. She unconsciously held a hand over her chest, as if to help herself breathe. The _Präsident_ had just pulled a huge one-eighty, going from craving his blood as payment for his betrayal to sorrowful about the loss of someone with so much talent and potential in them. That last phrase – ' _es ist aus,_ ' or 'it's over' – resonated within her in a sour way. It made her feel like she had given up on finding Erich, who was long gone by now.

Looking to Maho and Alfred, she saw how they were only just able to hold that sourness from their own faces. Maho looked to her left and right to see how her sister and friend were holding up. She was unsurprised to find Miho nearly ready to break down, nor was she caught off-guard by Alfred's stony face. The elder Nishizumi knew that there were several emotions swirling through all three of them that threatened to level the entire room, but they were all well-disciplined, and as such were able to hold it together.

" _Bubi… ist verloren,_ " the _Präsident_ declared in a very weary tone, using the nickname Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdstaffel_ had coined for Erich. The symbolism was not lost on any of the three present warriors.

Miho fingered her collar shakily, feeling incredibly uncomfortable and upset with the whole situation that had just unfolded. In this moment she could now understand the Anglo-American philosophy of drinking to forget, as such a prospect sounded extremely attractive presently. She could only hope that wherever Erich was presently, that he was safe and happy.

Recalling the experience later on, she found herself referring back to that point after the _Präsident_ declared Erich lost as the moment she decided to go after him. Her goal was to bring him back home or, if he had no desire to return, to join him and leave Schwarzwaldspitze behind. Whichever path she went down, she would not, _could_ not, let him be all alone.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Yukari, what the devil is that?" Erich's voice brought Miho out of her flashback.

With a brief shaking of her head to clear it, the _Panzerkommandeur_ looked in front of her to find Yukari with what appeared to resemble _Schürzen_ fastened to her arms in the manner of shields, with a band on each one going around her upper arm and a handle down lower where her hands rested. Glancing at Erich out of the corner of her eye, she saw how the blonde was stupefied by the whole setup.

"It's some special equipment I created for severe winter storms!" the tank guru began, looking proud of herself. "The windproof _Schürzen!_ "

Just then, a gust of wind came through, and Yukari took this occasion to demonstrate by taking one hand off of one _Schürze_ and pressing it against the other _Schürze_ that was bearing the frontal force of the wind.

"They'll guard me from any cold, fierce wind there is, even in the middle of Siberia!" she boldly claimed. And it appeared to be worth its merit, as she was holding up well in the winds. "How about a pair for yourself, Lady Nishizumi?"

"Um…" the vibrant brunette indecisively went, very much unsure if that was safe. "Well… that's pretty…"

She never got to finish, as Yukari was hit by an even larger gust of wind that literally lifted her off the ground, at least a few centimeters. Erich nearly dashed forward to grab a hold on her, but stopped himself at the last moment, seeing she had regained control.

After the breeze passed, Yukari numbly slipped off the _Schürzen_ and paused for a second. "… Actually, on second thought, I take it back, Lady Nishizumi," she contradicted herself, raising a hand to scratch the back of her head awkwardly. "It seems there's a very serious design flaw in the _Schürzen,_ which has made them too dangerous to use…"

Miho simply smiled with mirth at Yukari's apparent oversight. "You know, you shouldn't underestimate nature like that," she pointed out. "Nature doesn't very much like it when it's defied."

"Yes, of course…" Yukari returned with a smile before gathering up her _Schürzen_ and walking off. "God, what was I thinking…?" she was heard muttering as she left.

Miho watched her leave, but she felt another pair of eyes on her. Turning, she discovered Erich staring at her. It felt odd this time, because unlike most times, he was not smiling this time. It felt like he was boring straight into her soul.

" _Darüber werden wir später sprechen,_ " he told her, referring to that flashback moment and how they would speak of it later. It was concerning to the blonde that the _Panzerkommandeur_ had zoned out like that, and from what he could tell it was still bothering her.

Miho frowned to herself at getting caught flashing back to then, but she couldn't say she hadn't expected him to bring it up anyway. " _Nur wenn du sprichst auch,_ " she countered as she turned to face him fully, offering to speak only if he would talk as well. After all this time, she just needed to know what drove him to make such a drastic choice as disappearing without a trace after the defeat.

She noticed how Erich tensed in response. He had never spoken to her – or _anyone,_ really – of the finer details of what happened in Russia, and he clearly had no desire to speak of them now. It put him in between a rock and a hard place, as while he wished to help Miho with her own problem, he wasn't so keen on letting her help with his own. He was so terrified of losing her trust that he refused to speak of his experiences, because he feared exactly that happening. He didn't wish to be pitied, nor did he wish for sympathy, because he was just so stubborn. He didn't believe Miho should ever have to lower herself down to him.

She lightly touched his cheek with the palm of one of her hands, the left one in particular, where she recalled seeing a huge splitting of skin back when he had returned to Schwarzwaldspitze after Pravda's attempts to break him just before the battle. He tried to shy away at the touch, but he found himself unwilling to upset her by pulling away. She always hated how the blonde was always so blind to how people saw him. He always assumed the worst from everyone, even if he did a fantastic job of not caring most of the time.

But Miho knew that she was the exception to that. She knew Erich genuinely cared about her opinion of him. After the whole ordeal with Pravda, it became obvious that was the case. Why else would he run away from her if there was a possibility she would dismiss him simply because it was believed he had turned traitor? He genuinely thought she would have assumed the worst from him upon finding out he was the reason they lost, regardless of whatever explanation he could provide. That was a reality he could not live with.

For several seconds, Miho looked into the blonde's gaze. She could see in his expressive blue eyes a lost little boy in this moment, and it made her heart ache. That was why she chose to lay herself bare to him through their locked gazes, letting him see completely into her and her intentions, hoping that she could convince him she was there for him.

Erich soon sighed. " _Fein…_ " he acquiesced. Looking into those pleading bright brown eyes, he added one last bit. " _Später._ " He made it clear he wished to only speak of it later, not immediately.

Miho nodded in acceptance, knowing he was practically at war with himself over this. She wouldn't rush him, but she wouldn't wait forever either. It was about time they faced this problem head-on. She just needed to know _why._ Why he left so abruptly, why he felt he couldn't talk to her about it, why he fled to the other side of the globe, why… so many whys… She just needed closure on the subject. It had tormented her night after night, and she would not take it any longer.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_

 _ **Also, the author regrets nothing.**_


	140. Kapitel 27,1,19

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Neunzehn: Luftkaninchen**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Over in the hangars aboard the _Zuikaku,_ things were proceeding as could be expected of the Arts of Warfare programs of Ooarai. Which meant things were running smoothly.

Or, at least, as smoothly as was possible. Because life was far from perfect in Ooarai, but they made do with what they could. The _Panzerkraft_ team was holding an informal practice, which mainly consisted of maneuvering drills and target practice. The _Jägermeistern_ team, on the other hand, was busy performing maintenance on the eight flying death machines belonging to them.

Despite that, there were a few people that were left with nothing to do. One of those was Erich. With how simple it was to maintain a Bf 109, and the fact he had a four-man ground crew that were more than able to do the job without him, he was left talking with Aprikose, who was simply too lazy like always to do any work on the Fw 190, and the Automotive Club, who was actually busy with work.

"So, the big day is almost here," Erich began as he and Aprikose watched the Automotive Club undertake maintenance with the M3 _Lee._ "The 24 Hours of Le Mans…" He referred to how the classic French 24-hour endurance race around Circuit de la Sarthe took place this coming weekend.

"What, are you upset that Porsche won't be able to win again this year?" Aprikose quipped, referring to Porsche's withdrawal from top-level sports car racing last year, despite all their achievements in the category. Just a few of them include nineteen overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most of any one manufacturer, including seven consecutive victories in the same race from 1981 to 1987, another record in its own right, and with an ongoing three-win streak at the French endurance classic when they dropped out at the end of 2017.

Erich shrugged, wearing a carefree grin. "Maybe a _little,_ but I'm willing to give them some slack for their reuse of those Rothmans and _Truffeljäger_ liveries," the blonde responded. He referred to how this year, for their seventieth anniversary, Porsche was running two of their LMGTE Pro-class 911 RSRs in liveries based off some of their past iconic Le Mans contenders, namely the Porsche 956/962 siblings' legendary Rothmans Porsche liveries from the '80s and the Porsche 917/20's very abstract and memorable 'Pink Pig' livery from 1971, also called ' _der Truffeljäger von Zuffenhausen._ '

"While I do agree that those liveries are fantastic," Nakajima inserted from where she was underneath the M3 _Lee_ with a large drain pan positioned just so, "I'm pretty sure I know what you're getting at, Erich."

"Oh? You do?" the blonde innocently questioned with a smile to match, knowing full well what the Japanese girl was getting at. "Would that possibly have to do with how if Toyota loses this race, then it means the Toyota Curse is undoubtedly very real?"

Nakajima sighed heavily. "Yes," she confirmed nevertheless. She then popped the drain plug on the M3 _Lee's_ Wright R975 9-cylinder radial engine, draining it of oil and filling the drain pan. Following that, she slid out from underneath to look up at Erich and Aprikose. "Toyota's got their best shot yet at winning overall this year now that they're the only factory team in the LMP1 class after Porsche and Audi both dropped out."

"They've always been very competitive, able to remain in contention for the entire race," Hoshino pointed out. She was busy with removing the engine's cooling fan and shroud, which were quite large since the engine was air-cooled, and needed to be removed to access the rest of the engine from the top. "Their cars are fast enough _and_ reliable enough to win."

"And yet they've snatched defeat from the jaws of victory how many times was it?" Erich asked with a teasing smile. "Four? Five?" He was having a lot of fun tormenting the Automotive Club with Toyota's impressive-yet-crucially-lacking-in-victories Le Mans record.

It dated all the way back to 1975, the first year a car was entered that used a Toyota engine, and Toyota-engined cars competed again in 1985 and 1986. Their Le Mans efforts started in earnest in 1987, where they first tried their hand at the competition's top C1 class with their own works team, and trying each year until pulling out in 1994, with 1991 being the lone year during that stretch they had not competed in the race. After a brief absence as a full works team to engineer a new race car - the absence being filled with privateer teams representing them - the team came back in 1998 and 1999 with an all-out effort. Afterwards, they remained absent until twelve years later in 2012, where they began fielding entries again in the top LMP1 category and had done so every year since then. The four automotive girls were rooting for the Japanese manufacturer this coming race like they had done so in past years, even during the more painful years.

Suzuki sighed at the taunting, knowing the blonde had a point. "Eight, actually," she corrected the number of Toyota's years of misfortune. She was busy with inspecting track tension, which was a bit different on the M3 _Lee_ due to its use of rubber tracks compared to the method for the steel tracks equipping the other tanks. Other than that, she was also doing a basic lookover of the vertical volute-sprung suspension units, which were six in total, three per side.

"1992, where the TS010 came second to the Peugeot 905 Evo 1B," Tsuchiya began listing off, using a loud voice to make sure she was heard since she was inside the tank itself, performing functionary checks of the steering and brake linkages and checking for sloppiness in each of them. In that race, the #33 Toyota proved its capability of matching the pace of the winning #1 Peugeot, but it was just unable to close with them when it counted.

"1994, where the 94C-V suffered a broken shift linkage in the last ninety minutes and handed the win to the Dauer 962 Le Mans," Erich provided the next loss on the list. He knew of that race due to it being yet another of Porsche's many victories at Le Mans, their very last with the legendary 962. This year was noteworthy for the winning 962 being classified as a GT1 car rather than a top-level LMP1 car, the first such time in the race's history that a lower-class car would triumph over the top class and take overall victory. It would happen again in 1995 with the McLaren F1 GTR and in 1998 with the Porsche 911 GT1-98. This was possible via the exploitation of a loophole in the rules for GT cars, allowing for purpose-built race cars to compete in a class originally meant for road car-derived racers. This was the last win for the Porsche 962, a fitting end to the car's long, outstanding, and unmatched legacy.

Toyota's LMP1-class 94C-V was the biggest challenger to Porsche that year, having led much of the race until the lead #1 Toyota suffered a broken shift linkage with only ninety minutes remaining. In the time it took to repair it, the two Dauer-Porsches were able to catch up and pass it. Eventually, the #1 Toyota was able to claw its way back up to second, but it could not catch the winning #36 Dauer-Porsche.

"1998, where the GT-One was the fastest car in the race, leading with eighty minutes to go when it suffered gearbox failure, handing the win to the Porsche 911 GT1-98," the blond-haired ultra-ace mentioned next, again knowing about this race in particular since it was another Porsche victory. The #29 Toyota was leading by forty seconds with eighty minutes to go when it suffered catastrophic gearbox failure, putting it out of the race and handing the win to the #26 Porsche. It was later discovered that, during the previous stop for the car, the transmission drain plug wasn't tightened properly after the transmission was serviced, leading to a gradual loss of fluid that eventually destroyed the gearbox.

"1999, where a tire blowout in the closing hours dropped the lone surviving GT-One out of contention, handing the win to the sole surviving BMW V12 LMR," Aprikose continued, knowing about that race in particular due to it being BMW's sole victory in the race's history. All of the girls grimaced, as the 1999 race was one of the more painful losses for Toyota.

BMW coming away victorious was impressive considering the very same #3 Toyota that had blown a tire in the final hour had previously been catching the leading #15 BMW, setting the fastest lap that race in the process and diminishing the BMW's lead greatly, averaging seven seconds quicker per lap. The GT-One managed to bring home second despite the blown tire, though that was greatly disappointing due to the car being so obviously the fastest one that race. That race was also known for the infamous Mercedes-Benz CLR backflip incidents, one of which was caught on live broadcast footage of the race and seen all across the world.

"2013, where the TS030 Hybrid came second to the Audi R18 e-tron quattro," Hoshino continued the list as she tried handling the large, unwieldy shroud all on her own after it was removed. That race in particular was another one of the thirteen races Audi had come away victorious in. Despite the problems the other two R18s suffered over the race, the #2 Audi was able to clinch the win, with the #8 Toyota coming a respectable second in what proved to be one of the wettest and most dangerous races yet in Le Mans history, proven so by how this was the most recent time one of the competitors had died during the race.

"2014, where the leading TS040 Hybrid had that FIA-mandated piece of monitoring equipment melt a wiring loom, forcing it out of the race at the halfway mark after having led much of the race by that point, and giving the win to the Audi R18 e-tron quattro," Suzuki added on to the list of disappointing finishes for Toyota. The #7 Toyota had led much of the race after starting on pole, but when the night came, an FIA-mandated piece of monitoring equipment failed and melted part of the wiring harness for the car, which could not be repaired, leading to its retirement. The #8 Toyota had also had bad luck, having crashed early in the race when the rain was pouring down in buckets. The repairs took nearly an hour, but the car was able to claw its way back up to third nevertheless, behind the winning #2 Audi and the second-place #1 Audi.

"2017, where the two dominating TS050 Hybrids ended up retiring after ten hours with mechanical troubles, which eventually resulted in the Porsche 919 Hybrid winning," Erich continued the list. The 2017 race was noteworthy in that both Toyota _and_ Porsche suffered problems that year. At the end of twenty-four hours, only two LMP1 contenders finished the race out of the six that started, and absolutely none of them had escaped trouble. The #2 Porsche had to take a lengthy stop after three and a half hours to repair a broken front axle, though it was eventually able to claw its way back up to the top and win. The #8 Toyota had to come in after four and a half hours, also suffering mechanical trouble in need of repair, which dropped it from contention. The Toyota was able to come back and take eighth overall. The race proved very attrition-heavy for the top LMP1 class contenders, which led to an LMP2 class car holding the overall lead for a time, the first time in the race since the '90s GT1 days that a lower-class car had the overall lead.

This race was also noteworthy for what happened afterwards. Toyota's loss this year had inspired the company's president to issue a huge apology to the drivers and the fans for letting them all down and failing to build a car that could bring home a victory. It was saying something that the fans were being apologized to, as the amount of fans Toyota had rooting for them that year was truly astounding: there was not one person in the motorsport world that _wasn't_ rooting for them. Even their Porsche competitors were wishing them well, as a sportsmanlike gesture after what happened the previous year's race.

"And then there was the 2016 race…" Erich treaded, knowing this was hard territory and having deliberately skipped it at first for that reason. Upon hearing, all four of the automotive girls groaned dejectedly at having to relive that year's event. That year was the most painful loss yet for the Japanese manufacturer, the one that pulled at the sympathetic heartstrings of everybody in the racing world.

The 2016 race had an ending that was, simply put, heartbreaking for Toyota. The opening had the Toyota TS050 Hybrids, Porsche 919 Hybrids, and Audi R18s trade positions at the front, until eventually the #5 Toyota was able to get a firm hold on the lead, with the #2 Porsche trailing in second and the #6 Toyota in third. They remained there for twenty-three and a half hours until there were only eleven minutes remaining, where the #5 Toyota's lead grew even more due to the #2 Porsche having to make an unscheduled pit stop to change all four tires after experiencing a slow puncture. After dominating the front of the field for nearly the entire race, it looked as if it was Toyota's race to lose.

However, drama soon began to unfold. With six and a half minutes remaining, the gap between the #5 Toyota and the #2 Porsche was set at around a minute and fourteen seconds. That was when the Toyota started experiencing a severe loss of power, evidenced by the Porsche starting to rapidly catch up. When there were only four-and-a-half minutes remaining, the gap between the two was only thirty-seven seconds. With the pressure on, Toyota elected to keep the car out on track rather than bring it in and give up any chance of winning. Eventually, when there was only 3:25 remaining on the clock, the #5 Toyota ground to a halt just past the start/finish line as it lost all power completely. The #2 Porsche passed it on what ultimately turned out to be the final lap of the race and went on to take the victory, with the surviving #6 Toyota claiming second. It was discovered in a post-race analysis of the #5 Toyota that a cracked line between the turbocharger and intercooler had been the cause of the most dramatic finish in recent Le Mans history.

"For what it's worth, even _I_ felt bad for Toyota that year," Erich offered a consolation to the four moping automotive girls. "That was _so_ heartbreaking, losing it at the _very_ end after dominating all race."

" _Please_ don't remind me…" Tsuchiya whined as she climbed out of the tank. "We were all ready to pop the champagne and celebrate their impending victory when all that happened!"

"I lost a lot of money betting on Toyota that year…" Suzuki dejectedly revealed, having finished checking the suspension units and finding each to be satisfactory.

"The damned Curse struck again, harder than ever…" Hoshino sighed, depressed, as she began the removal of each of the nine-cylinder engine's spark plugs.

"That was the year the Curse was to have ended!" Nakajima cried, mirroring how upset they all were at the end of that race. "And to have fate so cruelly snatch victory away from them after a nearly perfect performance… _aaaaaAAAAAGH!_ " The de facto leader of the automotive-centered group shook her head as she loudly moaned in frustration.

XXXXXXXXXX

While Erich, Aprikose, and the Automotive Club were talking about the impending 24 Hours of Le Mans race, elsewhere, Miho walked into the hangars. Her own crew had finished the drills she had laid out for each tank crew, and she was now left with nothing to do but oversee everything else. She caught sight of the aforementioned six-strong group still talking about motorsports, her gaze having been drawn there by Nakajima's great groan of despair.

Miho knew enough about motorsports to guess they were speaking of the big Le Mans race coming up, of which she had plans to also watch alongside everyone else that normally attended the Automotive Club's 24-hour events to watch those kinds of races. Personally, she was a Porsche fan through and through like Erich, as a consequence of having grown up in Weissach, just across town from Porsche's research center there. Though, of the two of them, the blonde was far more into motorsports than she was. She could recall him goading Aprikose for a week after Porsche claimed overall victory at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring earlier that year, and for that reason she counted Porsche's lack of participation in the top class at Le Mans as a blessing in disguise. No doubt if Porsche _was_ racing in the top class this coming race and they won, then Erich wouldn't shut up about it for the next month.

But she raised an eyebrow upon catching sight of the six girls of _Rabbit_ Team, also with nothing to do as they sat around. Finding something to occupy herself with, the vibrant brunette _Panzerkommandeur_ strode over to the six freshmen. "Girls?" she prompted as to what they were all doing sitting there.

All of the freshmen – excluding Saki, obviously, who was staring off into space again – turned to face their captain.

"Why are you all here?" Miho asked as nicely as she could, smiling to dissuade any notions they held of her coming over to reprimand them all. "You're missing practice."

"Well, we can't exactly do the drills since our tank's in for maintenance, so there's nothing for us to do," Karina said as the girls all loosened up, shoulders noticeably sagging slightly.

"Ah…" Miho went, now remembering that the M3 _Lee_ was indeed next on the list of tanks bound for maintenance.

Bringing a closed fist to her mouth and another hand to her hip as she looked down in a thinking posture, she thought hard about a way _Rabbit_ Team could still practice even without a tank. It wouldn't do well for them to lose their touch, which seemed rather easy to occur in her eyes since they were never one of the more remarkable teams Ooarai had in terms of skill.

But several seconds of thought later the vibrant brunette removed her fist from her mouth and snapped her fingers. "I've got it!" she said with an accomplished grin on her face. Looking at the freshmen, she jerked her head to the hangar doors in a gesture to follow. "Follow me, I have an idea."

The _Rabbit_ Team girls scrambled to follow their captain, looking much like lost puppies. "Captain Nishizumi?" Azusa had the guts to ask. "What exactly _is_ your idea?"

"Do you girls recall the Americans' tank situation before World War Two began?" the vibrant brunette calmly asked a question in return. She was the epitome of cool-headedness right now compared to the freshmen, who were racking their brains to answer her question.

Finally, after several seconds, Azusa was able to answer with, "Weren't they really far behind in technology and with a severe lack of tanks?"

"Correct," Miho nodded affirmative as they all continued toward the _Panzer_ IV H that was parked outside with all its crew hatches open. The crew of said _Panzer_ was relaxing and chatting atop the tank itself. "They had such a huge lack of tanks that they had to get quite creative in training to circumvent that deprivation. One of the methods they used to compensate was to substitute using armored cars. But there was another method that I think is appropriate for here."

"And what exactly is that, Captain?" Azusa asked for the whole freshman group.

Miho looked up at her crew still chatting away atop the _Panzer_ IV. "Hey, Saori!" she called up to them.

"Now I'll admit, I found him cute when I first saw him, but then I found out Miho was already crushing on him and decided I didn't want to invoke her- _what,_ Mako?" Saori gossiped away before turning, feeling a bit miffed at being interrupted with a shove on her shoulder from Mako. The _Panzerfahrer_ simply wore a deadpan look as she pointed down to Miho on the ground. "Oh… What's up?" the ginger returned.

"Could you come down here?" Miho asked in return from her place on the ground. "With a whistle, if you have one?"

Saori immediately turned to Yukari. "Yukari, you got a whistle on you?" she asked with a sideways, inquisitive tilt to her head.

Yukari reached behind her and pulled out a silver whistle from what everyone swore was out of thin air before tossing it over to the ginger. Nobody knew exactly where the tank guru kept all of the stuff she carried.

"Thanks!" Saori said before jumping down to the ground and joining Miho and the freshmen making up _Rabbit_ Team. She didn't bother questioning where Yukari kept all her stuff anymore and just chalked it up to black magic.

With Saori now with her, Miho faced the freshmen again and gently gripped Karina by the shoulders, steering her into a particular spot. "Do me a favor and don't move," she requested, before doing the same with the other five girls, arranging them so they mimicked the crew layout for the M3 _Lee._

After moving Ayumi, Yuuki, Saki, Aya, and Azusa into what she deemed as the proper positions, Miho stood off to the side of the formation and continued her original line of thought with a smile, "The other method the Americans used to make up for their lack of tanks in training was with what I like to call the air tank method. They would arrange themselves as you are now: into the layout of their tank, while on foot. Then the crew would act just as they would if they were actually crewing a tank, with some extra declarations regarding firing and loading and maneuvering together on foot." She then nodded at them all. "That is exactly what you are all going to do right now, so get ready."

"Ooh, awesome!" Yuuki expressed her positive thoughts on the matter.

"We're an air tank!" Aya eagerly noted.

The other freshmen were also pretty excited about training this way, as it was so new and different. Seeing them motivated as they were, Miho looked over to Saori and nodded to her with a smile. The ginger understood the gesture's meaning, bringing the whistle up to her lips and blowing, letting a shrieking whistle ring through the air and serve as the cue for _Rabbit_ Team to begin their drills.

"Advance! Full speed ahead!" Azusa commanded. With that, the freshmen all began to run forth, eventually building up into a sprint, remaining in their exact positions that Miho had placed them in as they made their way to the practice grounds. "Left here!"

They made their way to the practice grounds rather quickly, all things considered, with the _Panzer_ IV H following behind as Miho observed them.

"Target at one o'clock!" Azusa called out the first target. "Turn and halt!" As commanded, the entire air tank turned to face the target head-on and came to a stop. "Fire!"

"Firing!" Ayumi and Aya both called out, mimicking the action of firing their respective cannons. Saki mimicked loading the smaller 37 mm gun while Ayumi mimicked loading the 75 mm gun all by herself.

Miho smiled as she observed. While it wasn't all that practical to use the air tank method – being little better than nothing at all and appearing quite silly as well – it was refreshing to see the _Rabbit_ Team take to it so readily. It was useless doing weapons training and target practice using that method, but for maneuver exercises, it was passable. She watched the girls fling through the gauntlet of trials she had laid out for each crew with great enthusiasm, observing as they backed up and turned as a cohesive unit, doing the same when it came to dashing across open terrain to get an opportunity to strike and for all other maneuvers she had detailed for them to practice.

"Whoo-hoo!" Saori cheered on the freshmen as they finished up the gauntlet and returned to the _Panzer_ IV. "Now jump with a smile!"

"YEAH!" all the underclassmen cheered as they jumped up together as a unit, still holding their crew formation.

Miho got a chuckle out of that. "No, no, tanks can't do that…" she commented on the nonsense of the _Rabbit_ Team in an amused way, like how one might comment on the silliness of a child.

That was one thing that the vibrant brunette had come to see the value of in _Rabbit_ Team: their childishness. While not normally a desirable characteristic, said childishness did have the effect of bringing a bright spirit to the team, which overall had the effect of helping keep morale high. And morale, Miho understood very well, was one of the most important factors in a team's strength. Despite their rather unremarkable performance in combat, Miho still knew they were greatly valuable to the team because of the effect they had on morale.

That was a trait that Miho knew was a necessity for any team to have to be at its best ability, and at Ooarai, nobody did that better than the _Rabbit_ Team.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 ** _The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to_** **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	141. Kapitel 27,1,20

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwanzig: Sorfältige Überlegung**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Aboard the _HMS Ark Royal_ was about everything one could expect out of Britain. Those aspects included a lack of dentists, high amounts of utterly ridiculous and non-tasty food, the biggest gossips on the face of the planet, and such a deluded sense of superiority and haughtiness it would make one want to kill themselves rather than listen to someone speaking about what puts the 'Great' in Great Britain.

Oh, and of course there was tea, and with that, tea time. Everything aboard the _Ark Royal_ came to a stop for tea time.

And it was during tea time where two of St Gloriana's lesser-known _Panzerkraft_ team members were passing through the cafeteria. Both Rukuriri and Nilgiri were not particularly well known for their exploits as tankers of the aristocratic British school, but they still had the capacity to perform important roles when called upon. Both normally commanded Matilda IIs, though Nilgiri at times took command of a Cromwell instead when the situation called for it.

The two of them were simply passing through until they were no longer simply passing through thanks to Rukuriri's attention being drawn to one of the tables, leading to both of them coming to a stop. "Oh, hey look!" she gestured to the table for Nilgiri. "Isn't that the Sir Douglas over yonder?"

The glasses-wearing young Brit briefly adjusted her spectacles to see more clearly. "Blimey, you're right," she observed for herself.

Douglas was in the cafeteria sitting all by his lonesome at one of the tables, a cup of tea before him, likely empty judging by his lack of reaching for it every few seconds.

"I wonder what he's thinking about…" Rukuriri expressed curiosity, having noticed how the Scotsman was seemingly in deep thought over something.

It was times like these that Douglas truly appreciated the value of tea time, as with tea time set up as it was, he could simply go off somewhere – away from his idiotic comrades, preferably – and nobody would question it. Tea time was when everything stopped, so there was nothing expected of him during that time span, meaning he could use the time to unwind and release some tension. There was only so much absurdity he could handle in a single stint.

' _It's an absolute chore being around little spitfire number one and little spitfire number two. Impossible to ever keep them on a leash what with how overflowing with energy they are,_ ' the blonde Scottish young'un thought idly. ' _Then there's the typhoon of a captain who goes from one fancy to another in such flippant manners. And lastly there's the gunner that's an absolute tempest, what with how she seems to deliberately try and push my buttons as of late. I still don't know as to why…_ '

Douglas stopped and took a moment to run those thoughts through his head again. Referring to the people who ticked him so in a poetic manner was honestly ridiculous now that he thought back on it. Nobody would ever understand what he was referring to in those words, so he mentally explained himself, just to set things straight.

The little spitfires he was referring to were Rosehip and Oliver, both of which had an absolutely astronomical level of energy within their young bodies. Douglas dismissed that particular trait of theirs as being inherent to the Welsh, but he digressed.

The typhoon was Darjeeling, and he thought the likening appropriate if only because of the Englishwoman's rather hard-to-predict personality. One minute she was reciting famous quotes while completely relaxed and calm, and the very next she would do something outlandish like dress up in a maid uniform and act as such, often with overenthusiasm.

And lastly, there was the tempest: Assam. The Scotsman knew not what had gotten into her, but for whatever reason, she had started deliberately trolling him and just in general pushing his buttons, just to get a rise out of him. And the worst part of it was how she would always devilishly smirk afterwards, which just drove him up the wall.

Another tidbit about his thoughts that made him stop for a second was the specific nouns he had used to relate to each of their traits. He had used the term 'spitfire' to refer to both Rosehip and Oliver, the term 'typhoon' to refer to Darjeeling, and the term 'tempest' to refer to Assam. He found it ironic that all of those nouns were also the names of very prominent British World War Two era fighters: the Supermarine Spitfire, the Hawker Typhoon, and the Hawker Tempest, all of which St Gloriana's _Jägermeistern_ team possessed.

With regards to naming conventions, it was mainly a British and Commonwealth thing to officially name aircraft using actual names rather than alphanumeric designations as was common in every other country. Each of the nations typically also added some nicknames to their own fighters, but these were never official with the exception of the Americans, who added the chosen nickname onto the end of their standard alphanumeric designation. But the British and the Commonwealth were unique in using an actual name for the base designation of an aircraft, a practice which has survived to the present day in Britain and most former Commonwealth countries.

Douglas soon felt really smug about his poetry upon further review of it. Perhaps he could become a poet by trade. Either way, he grew a somewhat smug grin as he huffed once in amusement.

This action was greatly misinterpreted by the two girls observing him. "Oh, he smiled!" Rukuriri sort-of fan-girled.

"He must've come up with an amazing new strategy!" Nilgiri guessed with giddiness. It was a very wrong guess, but Douglas often generated a lot of hype among the girls for how he was basically Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome, except for the fact he was blonde. So it was somewhat understandable for some of those fan-girls to think a little _too_ positively of him.

Almost immediately after, the two saw Assam casually strut over and plop herself beside Douglas. "So, what's my favorite Scotsman brooding about now?" she chose to make some light conversation.

"Oh for fuck's sake, I was doing _just_ fine until you sat yourself down next to me!" the Scotsman started shaking his head, flinging his hands a bit as he began ranting. "Can't you just bugger off?!" He pointed downwards aggressively to illustrate his displeasure. "I can never stop being pissed as long as you're still fucking here!" He started shaking his head and fist together due to how full of rage he was with her presence.

Assam merely smirked that little devilish smirk in response. "Ah, you remind me so much of Schwarzwaldspitze's President right now," she commented as if she was talking about the weather, yet fully aware that she was grating on the Scotsman's nerves.

"I'm _nothing_ like that ranting, table-thumping failure!" Douglas retorted, with one of his hands heavily smacking the table twice at 'table-thumping.'

Assam's smirk turned to a satisfied smirk as she tilted her head up slightly, as her point was just proven after the Scotsman thumped the table like Schwarzwaldspitze's President did at times during his many rants. Douglas noticed and immediately felt embarrassed at proving her point so readily.

' _Damn that tempest…_ ' he half-heartedly cursed her in his mind.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 ** _The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to_** **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	142. Kapitel 27,1,21

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Einundzwanzig: Süße Tortur**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

" _(From the depths of hell in silence  
Cast their spells, explosive violence  
Russian nighttime flight perfected  
Flawless vision, undetected)_"

The blond-haired ultra-ace Erich-Dietrich Hartmann narrowed his gaze in inspection at the cluster of wooden pins – which were arranged to vaguely resemble a field gun – inside of a white square about thirteen meters from his current position. All his focus was directed to figuring out the best way to knock them all out of that square in one fell swoop.

" _From the depths of hell in silence!  
Cast their spells, explosive violence!  
Russian nighttime flight perfected!  
Flawless vision, undetected!_"

Believing he had found it, he soon shifted his stance so his left side was facing the cluster of pins. He hefted a bat in his right hand a few times, reaffirming the feel of it as he gripped it very near the end. Then, with a forward step of his left foot, he twisted his body towards the pins while simultaneously precisely chucking the bat towards them with a side-arm throw.

The bat spun nearly flatly through its arc until striking the pin formation with a resounding crack, scattering them all out of the white square.

" _Pushing on and on  
Their planes are going strong  
(Air force's number one!)_"

" _JA-ha-ha!_ " Erich whooped with a laugh as he swung his fist up in accomplishment. He then swiftly turned to his left, where a few others were observing him from. He pointed at one with a very vibrant-colored brown, almost brownish-red, head of relatively short hair. "Pay up! I won the bet!"

" _Somewhere down below  
They're looking for the foe  
(Bombers on a run!)_"

Miho Nishizumi rolled her eyes with an affectionate smile and plucked out one of the chocolates in the red heart-shaped box she had with her. She then tossed it across towards the blonde with a flick of her wrist. The German ultra-ace greedily caught the treat out of the air with his mouth and relished the taste of it. It was a reward he always loved claiming, and this occasion was no less.

The bet itself was about whether he could knock out all of the pins on his first try. While that might not seem difficult in itself, it was a lot harder than it looked due to this being the first ever time Erich had tried his hand at gorodki. Gorodki was a Russian game in which the goal was to knock out groups of pins – called ' _gorodki,_ ' and arranged in various formations – out of a square zone – called the ' _gorod_ ' – by throwing a bat at them. Objectively, the idea was to knock them all out in the fewest possible tries. It was similar in concept to what would result if both skittles and horseshoes were combined together.

" _You can't hide  
You can't move  
Just abide  
Their attack's been proved!  
(Raiders in the dark!)_"

Despite the fact that there were some speakers blasting Sabaton in the area he was playing, Erich found it to not be a hindrance in the least bit. It affected him not, because he was fully conditioned to heavy metal assaulting his ear drums day in and day out.

Fittingly, the others that were present with Miho included Pravda's finest. No, not their secret police. Rather, it was merely Sasha, Nonna, Nudelmann, and Katyusha. The diminutive leader was perched atop the shoulders of Nudelmann that day, with Nonna to his left and Sasha to his right. Among the small group, Miho was to Sasha's right.

" _Silent through the night  
The Witches join the fight  
(Never miss their mark!)_"

The reactions provided by all of them were all distinct. Katyusha applauded politely, uncharacteristically without comment. Below her, Nudelmann tilted his chin up a bit, giving him an overall impressed expression. Nonna had eyes open a little wider in disbelief and eyebrows raised, though she also managed to look a bit pissed, overall appearing like she had been cheated.

" _Canvas wings of death!  
Prepare to meet your fate!_"

Sasha had by far the most colorful reaction out of them all. "What the-… How the hell did he _do_ that!?" he asked with an incredible amount of disbelief, simultaneously making some wild hand-motions in a similarly stupefied manner, among which was the flinging of them. "Not even _I_ could do that my first try out!" He brought a hand to his chin as he rethought his previous statement. "Of course, it doesn't help that I was only five and could barely hold the bat..."

" _Night bomber regiment!  
Five-hundred eighty-eight!_"

" _I'd_ like to know how he did that, as well," Nonna said, still looking a bit pissed as she steered the conversation back to the blond-haired German's unforeseen performance. Out of the four Russians present, she was the one who took gorodki the most seriously out of them all. And to have Erich just demonstrate absolute perfection on his first ever attempt at the game felt like a slap in the face to her own talent for it.

" _Undetected!  
Unexpected!  
Wings of glory!  
Tell their story!_"

Miho shrugged off the question. "That's just how he is," she divulged. Nonna and Sasha listened to her intently, being as Miho was the number one source on everything about Erich. "He's got this knack for being extremely adaptable, in the sense that he can do any particular thing to perfection, even if he's never done it before."

"Oh, come on, that's fucking bullshit!" Sasha loudly denied, refusing to believe Erich was the embodiment of perfection. "A god, _Erikh_ isn't!"

" _Aviation!  
Deviation!  
Undetected  
Stealth perfected_"

Miho shrugged a bit meekly in response, wearing a timid smile. "Well, I can't say he's disproven that notion…" she chose to further say.

"That's it, where's a bat at?" Nonna practically demanded in her perfectly measured tone, refusing to let this challenge against her gorodki mastery go unanswered.

As the air grew anticipatory with the impending gorodki face-off, Katyusha yawned as if bored, tapping the side of Nudelmann's temple lightly. That was a gesture understood to refer to how she wished to go somewhere else now, and the giant Russian obliged her by taking them both elsewhere, away from the blooming gorodki rivalry and the absurdly loud heavy metal.

As Nudelmann carted her around, the diminutive Russian took the chance to observe the surrounding area. The _Kiev_ had made a stop at Le Havre, of all places, and it was… _interesting,_ to say the least, to Katyusha. It wasn't often that Pravda came to the west _without_ toting around their massive arsenal. Oddly enough, the _Zuikaku_ was also there, hence the presence of Ooarai's diverse student body along with the Russians of Pravda on the streets of France.

What the diminutive Russian saw a lot of was people exchanging cards – almost all of them being red in color – in addition to these red heart-shaped boxes that a lot of young men presented as gifts to young women. Red roses were also among the items being exchanged, either singly or as a bouquet given as a gift to a girl. Further along the lines of the heart boxes, Katyusha also caught glimpses showing that they were filled with delectable sweets. She recalled having seen Miho with one of those boxes earlier also, and had this nagging feeling that Erich had something to do with it.

Oftentimes when these exchanges occurred, Katyusha had to force herself to turn away out of respect, for the exchangers, usually a man and a woman, would often immediately start kissing lovingly afterwards. It didn't take a lot of deducting for Katyusha to figure out that most of these pairs were lovers or something close to that label.

But none of what she saw lined up with anything she had ever seen before. For the life of her, she couldn't come up with any logical reason why everything that was happening was happening. For a second, she wondered if she had completely missed out on something and was simply oblivious to what was happening, but she ruled that out soon enough. She was _sure_ she was wide awake and fully conscious, thoughts her own.

Katyusha didn't notice, but she had been unconsciously looking around in a restless demeanor as she thought. Nudelmann could feel her subtle squirming, however, but he simply waited for Katyusha to swallow her pride and just _ask._

Finally, after several minutes it seemed, the diminutive Russian caved in. "Nudelmann, is today a special day or something for westerners?" she asked, crossing her arms in a haughty posture.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Nudelmann answered, wearing a small grin at the knowledge that he was right about Katyusha's curiosity being too insatiable for her to quell down. "February fourteenth _is_ a special day in the west. Today, they celebrate something called 'Valentine's Day.'"

Katyusha grew a look that said she understood yet didn't understand at the same time. "… I think I can safely assume that it's nothing like the church's Saint Valentine's Days, then?" she put forth her assumption, referring to the Eastern Orthodox practice of honoring two different Saint Valentines, on different days. At least, Katyusha _hoped_ she was correct in her reference. She wasn't religious, so she wouldn't trust her own word on such matters.

"No, not at all," the Russian giant confirmed. "Though originally it _was_ a day to honor Saint Valentine, eventually in the west, Valentine's Day grew to have many connotations alluding to romance, meaning it's often considered a day of love. Such love is often symbolized by gift giving, where people will give presents to their 'valentines,' or their significant others, but giving gifts to friends is also quite common. Most often these gifts are things like roses and boxes of chocolate, though they're certainly not limited to those only."

At the last sentence, Nudelmann subtly reached inside one of his outer shirt pockets. From within, he soon found what he was looking for. "In fact, I've got a gift of my own for you right here," he revealed with a small grin as he brought out the gift completely. It was a rather normal-looking box, with Pravda's hammer and sickle parody insignia on it.

But judging by Katyusha's rather enthusiastic gasp, it seemed she already knew what was in the box: delectable treats. " _Spasibo,_ my favorite giant Nudelmann!" she practically exclaimed to the world as she lunged forth, hand outstretched and ready to grab her treats.

However, with a trickster's smirk now adorning his face, Nudelmann extended his arm fully in front of him. This made Katyusha stop for a second to think, but not for long as she tried reaching the box again. But it was in vain, as she was simply too short to reach out to the box without falling quite a distance to the ground, though if one asked her she would say that Nudelmann's arms were too long, rather.

Watching her cling one arm onto the giant's head to steady herself while shimmying herself fully onto one shoulder and perilously trying to reach out for the box was extremely amusing. On the whole, such an antic provided a very comedic scene to anyone who passed them by, as Katyusha's vain attempts to reach the box without falling off Nudelmann's shoulders were humorous enough to make them instant internet stars.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_

 _ **Special thanks to**_ **ChillingComrade** _ **for his idea of east-meets-west.**_


	143. Kapitel 27,1,22

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Zweiundzwanzig: Ihr Versuch**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was another bright and sunny day aboard the _Kiev._ Everything aboard the Russian school ship was just as it should be, not being even a centimeter out of place.

Of course, one had to keep in mind that this was Russia. What passed for normal in Russia was _far_ different from what was normal everywhere else.

The oddities of the day came in the form of an overturned T-34-85 that had evidently been trying to drive onto a trailer in the middle of a street, as well as a man having a wrestling match against a bear in the middle of a nearby intersection. The T-34 was accompanied by two other T-34-85s that were now setting up to try and flip the overturned tank back over, leading to the trailer being driven onwards and away to make room for the two other tanks. The man vs bear wrestling match was a very contested fight, with the man having pinned the bear once but unable to finish the job as the beast kicked out, forcing him off.

"YEAH, YOU SHOW HIM, _TOVARISHCH MEDVED'!_ " Nudelmann raised his fist in a cheer in favor of the bear. Along with him at the corner of the sidewalk were the usual suspects of Nonna, Sasha, and Katyusha, with the diminutive tanker atop the blonde Russian ace's shoulders this time. "Take that _bolvan_ and eat him for dinner!"

"You _do_ realize that's one of our instructors, right?" Nonna thought it appropriate to point out as she spectated, watching the bear spring towards the man in a quick charge. The man was able to dodge, however, slickly snaking his way out of the animal's path.

"Then ever the more reason the bear should win!" Nudelmann retorted with no shame whatsoever, keeping his eyes on the action. At this point, the instructor had pulled a daring move and swiftly climbed atop the bear during the beast's perplexed pause from his previous evasive action, aiming to fully mount it like a horse and gain complete control over it.

Sasha had a very idle interest in the man and bear fighting it out. Rather, his attention was more focused on the tanks further down the street. The two upright T-34s both had towing straps attached to them and the overturned T-34. From the looks of it, they appeared ready to help turn the flipped tank back over.

That was the idea, supposedly, but the end result was somewhat different. The two tanks accelerated and were able to slowly turn the flipped tank back over, but upon the overturned tank hitting the ground right side up the two towing tanks suddenly accelerated rapidly, which resulted in them both plowing through part of the building-lined side of the street, bringing down a lot of rubble in the process.

Sasha rolled his eyes at the spectacle, wondering if Pravda's infrastructure department would even bother fixing this. They hardly bothered to fix anything for the most part, as evidenced by how poor in condition a good number of the streets and buildings were in. Only a direct order from Katyusha would make them get off their asses and fix something.

Speaking of Katyusha, the blonde Russian ace heard her fiddling with something behind him. Glancing back as much as he could at her, Sasha saw how she was fastening a rope around her torso. "Katyusha, what are you doing?" the boy asked out of curiosity.

The diminutive Russian tightened the rope around her torso before deigning to respond, "I'm making myself a lifeline!"

Sasha slowly rose an eyebrow. "… May I ask why?" he eventually asked, inwardly hoping he wouldn't get some nonsense answer this time.

Katyusha explained as she began fiddling with another rope, "Well, there have been so many dangerous situations that have befallen me while I was atop someone. Like that time I nearly fell off Nonna's shoulders during the Ooarai-Schwarzwaldspitze battle." She brought two free ends of the rope around Sasha's neck and began tying them together. "But with this lifeline of mine, I should be safe even if I fall! This should do it!" The last sentence was said more to herself as she tied the rope snugly.

"I see…" Sasha muttered, even though he really didn't. With the rope now tight around his neck, he was beginning to feel very apprehensive about Katyusha's 'brilliant' idea.

It was for good reason that he was, as he could immediately picture a wide array of possible ways that this could go wrong. If Katyusha did indeed fall off of him like this, then it was likely that neither of them would survive. The diminutive Russian would still fall to the ground because her fall would pull the line tight around Sasha's neck, which would suffocate him immediately, leaving him unable to act. That was if he was lucky, as it could very well play out to his neck getting sliced through if Katyusha was carrying enough energy during her fall.

Sasha's completely logical conclusion was as follows: this was one of the worst ideas he had ever seen, even worse than his own idea to stuff a Junkers Jumo 004 jet engine into the incredibly small and antiquated fuselage of the I-16. At least that one had actually worked, even if it was as far from practical as was humanly possible.

"Permission to speak freely on your lifeline, _tovarishch Kapitan?_ " Sasha formally requested, a sense of urgency just barely underlying his tone. He was hoping that his well-known dalliances into engineering would make Katyusha listen to him in this regard.

The diminutive tanker raised an eyebrow, wondering what in the hell made Sasha so serious now. After a couple of seconds of confused silence, she replied, "You may."

"No matter the conditions, I can only see this resulting in the both of our deaths," Sasha spoke his piece. "If you fall off, then I would suffocate and likely die, which will lead to you dying because I wouldn't be able to act and help prevent injury to you."

Katyusha blinked a few times and remained silent, which, to the blonde Russian ace, felt crushing in a sense. He could feel her twitching in barely restrained frustration. She had seemed proud of the idea she had come up with, but being informed by someone as well-versed in engineering as he was that this idea was absolutely horrible delivered a sizable blow to her pride. And whenever Katyusha's pride was damaged, she defaulted to anger most of the time.

But it came as a bit of a shock to Sasha when he soon heard a snap. Glancing back, he saw how Katyusha had taken a knife and cut the rope, severing the connection between them. The diminutive tanker had a stormy expression, but she held her tongue as she pouted and looked away.

Sasha knew she wasn't happy at all about her idea being rejected, but the reluctant acceptance proved that she trusted him entirely in such matters. Otherwise, the blonde Russian ace figured she might've blown herself up already. Of course, Sasha had experience in that, as well, thanks to that one time he had blown up a heavily modified ASh-82FN engine during a flight test. He had done the modifications himself and installed it into his own La-5. Needless to say, Nudelmann had been smug with him for days after, saying that he told him so.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	144. Kapitel 27,1,23

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn**_

 _ **Kapitel Dreiundzwanzig: Vorschau – Ein Schlag rot gefärbt**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

For all that it was worth, despite what the final results may have said, the second-round battle between Ooarai High School and Anzio Scuola Secondaria di Secondo Grado – a mouthful of a name, yes it was, but at least it wasn't as much of one as Pravda's full name was, which was as long as a paragraph at minimum – was extremely intense. Although in the end all of the Italian school's vehicles were eliminated with hardly any loss to the multinational high school's forces, they still put up a remarkable fight.

Of course, that wasn't good enough for some among Anzio's ranks. That was to be expected, because victory was always something that was worth striving for, especially in the Arts of Warfare. Victory in this competition proved the superiority of one group's fighting prowess over the other, and the way one fought in battle often spoke much of one's character. At least, that was one way to look at it.

None in Anzio thought so more than Francesca, the _Capo del Gruppo_ of the Italian school's _Gruppo di Caccia._ She wore the typical pilot's uniform for Anzio: a white skirt, white button-up shirt, and a brown leather pilot's jacket left open, which featured an Italian tricolor patch on one shoulder and the distinct pizza emblem of Anzio on the other. With smooth jet-black hair put into two pigtails, each hanging down a little past her shoulders, and brown eyes added to a sun-kissed skin tan that was _just_ right, the Italian flyer was certainly a head-turner in appearances. And, like many of her countrymen, she was very passionate in expressing her opinions.

After getting baited into a chase with Ooarai's Fw 190 A-4 that zapped all her energy by the end of it due to the _Würger's_ great exploitation of the scissors maneuver, her G.55 _Serie_ 1 was swiftly shot down by none other than Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann's Bf 109 E-4, which ended all Italian aerial resistance and led to eventual domination for Ooarai.

But Francesca had _words_ for Erika when the battle was over. And they were not entirely kind. "You think I'm just going to accept this… this _mockery_ of yours?" she questioned the blonde German girl, emphasizing her speech with hand gestures. "If you think this is going to win you favor, then here's a wake-up call: the world doesn't care for traitorous cowards like you! And I won't accept you humiliating us with your misguided victory!"

Erika, being who she was and never submitting herself to anyone's will, coldly responded with a sharp gaze, "Not everything is as black and white as it appears on the surface. You'd do well to remember that." That comment about her being a traitorous coward was clearly inspired from the events of the previous year.

Francesca stepped closer and was right up in the German girl's face as she countered with, "And _you'd_ do well to remember that there are consequences to your actions." Backing up a step and about to leave, she ended with, "You've got red dripping from your ledger, so much that you should be _drowning_ in it. Try to avoid adding anymore… if you can help it, that is." The fiery Italian then walked away to immerse herself in Anzio's traditional post-battle party.

But Erika kept watching her as she walked off, silently questioning what she meant by her words. Watching from further off, Manfred Nishizumi had caught wind of the confrontation, and loathe as he was to say such, he knew _exactly_ what Francesca was referring to with the comment of blood on Erika's hands.

But life went on, and a couple of months later the two of them were taking on arguably their biggest challenge yet: leading Ooarai's meager forces up against the might of Shkola No.34 'Pravda' for the semifinal round. They had to do so in the middle of the bitter Russian winter also, but not even the infamous freezing temperatures characteristic to Siberia could quench the fire that burned in Erika's heart now. Because this fight, for her, was _personal._ That was made clear to the rest of Ooarai when they overheard her upon the battle's commencement, " _Der Russe. Wird._ _ **Fallen.**_ " The Russians will fall.

It was for that reason exactly that Ooarai's _Jagdstaffel_ followed her orders completely without question this fight, as seeing the blonde German girl with such fire in her eyes was enough to make anyone do anything in their power to not unleash it. So none of her pilots questioned her orders to remain at high altitudes and let the enemy come to them, even if there were some that thought it a better idea to go after the enemy themselves.

Manfred was not as successful in that regard, as his tankers pressured him into going straight after the enemy upon seeing them, and he had not the will to put a damper on morale. So he conceded and led them into attacking the enemy directly, even though he just _knew_ he was walking straight into a trap. That was how Pravda's _Kapitan_ worked, as he remembered him: Kolenka was always one for playing mind games.

Meanwhile, Erika saw her plan unfolding just as she anticipated as she spotted Sasha's fifteen-strong fighter force climb up out of the clouds approaching her. As she commanded her own six-strong force to engage the Russians, she ended her order by diving her recently-modified Bf 109 G-2 straight into the fray after her comrades. Soon after, she was climbing back up, having shredded Sasha's La-5FN in her pass. And so began the fight for revenge. Revenge for being so utterly humiliated, tormented, and manipulated a year ago in Kursk.

 _Frozen ground  
Ride with the wind  
Descend from the thick clouds like demons_

A little over three hours into the battle, ground activity was as frozen as the landscape was, as Pravda had Ooarai completely surrounded. Up in the air, however, Pravda's _Istrebitel'naya Aviatsionnaya Divizia_ was being slaughtered, mainly by the fury of Erika, but she was not the only one dropping the Russians. Up at such high altitudes, the Russian fighters' performance was severely degraded, so it was easier to drop them than it would've been at lower altitudes. And that was exactly what Ooarai did as they systematically downed all of the Russian fighters with no losses to themselves, only suffering scratches thanks to all of them not panicking at the Russians' far superior numbers.

Natasha, Sasha's right-hand woman, had gotten her Yak-9U upgraded during the off-season to a Yak-9UT with the 37 mm cannon and two 20 mm cannons, but she got the experience of her life when her plane just about exploded after Wolf connected an HE shell from her Me 410 A-1/U4's massive 50 mm cannon. The Russian sharpshooter took note of how they had _severely_ underestimated just how deep Erika's animosity with Pravda went, because it was clearly deep enough to allow her to swat aside Sasha like she was but a fly and to invigorate the rest of her team into following her lead.

Now, after all aerial opposition was disposed of and after rearming with appropriate weaponry, the Ooarai _Jagdstaffel_ set course for the town that Ooarai's _Panzerzug_ was trapped within. The weather was horrible, with very low visibility, however it was not destined to remain so as night began setting in. Upon reaching the town, the weather was noticeably improving as the snow stopped falling and the clouds started thinning out.

 _Hartmann's girls  
Come for their tanks  
The enemy trembles with fear_

Down on the ground, Nikita, Pravda's short, sharpshooting IS-2 gunner, was hastily running to get back to the IS-2 mod. 1944 he commanded and gunned for this year, as he heard planes approaching. He did not identify them as friendly judging by the sounds, though Kolenka, being who he was, was too overconfident to see that.

It did no good, however, as a 500 kg bomb dropped right on the IS-2, courtesy of Anna Novat's Fw 190, putting the Soviet heavy tank out of the fight and taking away a key component of Pravda's _Tankovaya Brigada._

Almost immediately after, a loud and deep bang echoed from the skies, and Pravda's KV-2 found itself raising the white flag after experiencing a well-placed 50 mm AP round from Wolf's Me 410. This meant Pravda no longer had any heavy tanks available to them. A secondary achievement of the airstrikes was that they were instigating panic into Pravda's remaining tankers, as they were caught completely by surprise.

" _Blyat', v ukrytie! Zhivo!_ " Kolenka barked at the Russians to get their asses to cover upon realizing they were under attack. Another enemy fighter dived down and released its payload onto another Russian tank, shaking the ground as the rest of Pravda did their best to get to cover. As soon as he was in his T-34-85, he tried raising Nikita on the radio to get a sitrep. " _Nikita, otkuda tut vragi?!_ "

 _One!  
By one!  
The Russians' big plan!  
Will die where it stands!_

" _Sasha, ty, blin, gde?!_ " Kolenka tried raising Sasha soon after getting no response from Nikita. All he got from the _Komandir Divizii_ was static, as well. In frustration, he slammed his fist into the armor as he ascended out of his hatch to get a better look at the situation. What awaited him wasn't pretty. "What the hell happened…?"

Upon observing his team's positions, he found at least three of his tanks brutally knocked out, all from airstrikes it appeared as the craters indicated. This was unsettling, as the big burly Russian had never foreseen this happening.

He saw another peculiar thing as he looked to the skies, and upon squinting, he hastily dropped into his tank, closing the hatch as he yelled at his driver to move, " _DVIGAJ!_ " The reason for such alarm was by his sighting of a Bf 109 with a black tulip nose lining him up for a strafing run. And, by the nose art, he knew _exactly_ to whom that _Khudoy_ belonged.

 _Killing ground!  
You demanded surrender!_

As a flurry of bullets of 7.92 mm and 20 mm calibers impacted the armor of the evading Russian tank, Kolenka began to wonder what the hell happened up in the sky to allow this interference in his great plan.

It was going so well, too. He had led Ooarai's tanks straight into his trap, and then completely besieged them as he had them totally surrounded and vastly outnumbered. It was such a one-sided battle. He had even been merciful enough to offer them the chance to surrender, giving them three hours to decide.

 _Turn around!  
You will never survive_

And now this. This complete turn-around of the situation Kolenka could have never possibly foreseen. Ooarai had been a no-name school to him, and therefore he had not seen any need to prepare for fighting against them.

But just a few days prior to the battle, he was so reliably informed over tea by Darrence and Lynnette of St Gloriana that Ooarai had that girl commanding their fighters. He remembered her well enough, Erika. He remembered how he had tried messing with her head last year. It was a fun time, as he got to keep her almost nude for him at all hours, which allowed him to see that stunningly attractive body of hers. It was a shame he never got to touch, though.

 _Killing ground!  
The battle at Severodvinsk!  
Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur-ur-UR-uuuuurns!_

But some other interesting news he found out about Ooarai was that their tanks were commanded by the younger Nishizumi brother, which gave him a bit of trepidation. He didn't know much about Manfred, as his focus was more on his older brother Michael, but from what little he _did_ know about him, he knew the younger Nishizumi was absolutely dedicated to Erika. _That_ was what unsettled him.

And, yet again, he had proven to underestimate the blond-haired German girl herself. He did not think she would channel her rage against him and use it as a nearly-endless supply of fuel for her combat prowess. Surely she couldn't have taken Sasha and the others down all by herself? Even with five other wingmen, there was no way she could've taken out all of Pravda's aviation… Could she?

But as her Bf 109 climbed away after buzzing his T-34, Kolenka found himself now looking at the blonde German girl with a certain wariness. He felt a bit unsettled by what might transpire afterwards if she was allowed to get close to him because of the sheer focus she was putting into eliminating him. While he had brute strength in the loads, she knew exactly how to drop him to the ground regardless, having done so before a year prior when she escaped his clutches.

Up inside the Bf 109, Erika had the thrill of battle singing in her blood. It was also the promise of returning the favor to Kolenka that had her so fiercely determined to come out on top of this fight. She just couldn't _wait_ until she made that big Russian bear pay.

But that would have to wait for a little longer. It didn't please her craving for Kolenka's blood, but it was necessary that she be patient for a bit, as she had already agreed to a plan. And she had already played her part well enough. Now, it was time for the next step to commence.

 _(Fall in line!)  
Battle formations!_

While the airstrikes were underway all around them, Ooarai's _Panzerzug_ was waiting for said airstrikes to fully divert Pravda's attention away from them. They were all mounted up in their tanks, ready to break out.

"Oi, Nishizumi!" Manfred heard the voice of Ooarai's Student Council President call from the _Panzer_ 38(t) with a rolling turtle on its turret sides. A young man that was rather short in stature, had a full head of reddish-brown hair and similarly colored eyes, it was rare for Akio Kadotani to do anything more than kick up his feet and snack on dried sweet potatoes. But for the survival of the school, he would do absolutely anything. He nodded to Manfred with an appreciative grin. "Thanks for getting us this far."

 _(Show no fear!)  
Hunting them down!_

Following up next was the breakout from the church that served as their redoubt, with the winterized _Sturmgeschütz_ III _Ausf._ F leading and the freshly-upgraded _Panzer_ IV _Ausf._ F2 right behind the assault gun.

" _Unternehmen Wintergewitter_ begins now," Manfred notified over comms as the charge began. With a force that had gotten plenty of rest and had morale at an all-time high, he liked their chances of successfully breaking the siege. His overall mood was that of cool-headedness, ready for what was to come and already looking onwards from there. The Russians were nobody to fear. Sure, they had large numbers and highly capable tanks. However, it took someone with sufficient skill to be able to exploit those advantages. Or, in his case, to turn those into _disadvantages._

 _(Break their will!)  
Show them no mercy!_

With the terror instigated by the _Jagdstaffel,_ Pravda's tanks were in no shape to counter any attack. Erika had successfully struck fear into all the Russians' hearts through Ooarai's complete annihilation of Pravda's air power, meaning that the _Tankovaya Brigada_ was now aware that they were not being saved this time.

" _Erinner dich, kein Russe,_ " Manfred heard Erika remind him over comms of the objective in very cold terms: 'remember, no Russian.' Not a single Russian was to be left standing after the battle was over. While he was ready to follow that plan, he was getting concerned over Erika falling into such dark thoughts. The Erika he knew before was completely different to the one he knew now. All he could hope for was that annihilating Pravda would knock her back into sense, but he honestly doubted it.

 _Ooarai's forces, attack!_

"They're coming this way?" Kolenka wondered, stunned as he observed the Ooarai force charge straight towards his position, which featured the bulk of his own tanks. He then began furiously ranting. "Oh, what an idiot! I'll show that Nishizumi _svoloch! Nobody_ dares to defy the great Kolenka!" He ended by dropping into his T-34 and preparing to battle.

The breakout came to a climax when three T-34-85s, one of them Kolenka's own, were the targets for a combined attack. The Pravda tanks had no hope of stopping them all, as they were still in shock from the drastic turn of events. That made room for the leading StuG III F to drive a shot straight into one of the T-34s, taking it out of the fight and creating a hole. The only loss was the _I-Go otsu,_ which had veered off beforehand to serve as cannon fodder, taking the incoming fire rather than the rest of the _Panzerzug_ taking it, and making Pravda open to retaliation as they reloaded.

 _Round!  
Them up!  
Look into their eyes!  
No more of their lies!_

Following that, Ooarai's tanks all funneled through the hole, with the _Panzer_ IV F2 giving a parting shot to another T-34-85 as it passed by, taking it down and out of the fight. During this moment, Kolenka had climbed up to expose his upper body through the commander's hatch and briefly locked eyes with Manfred, who was commanding heads-up as he always did. The big burly Russian saw the look in the younger Nishizumi's eyes, and it eerily reminded him of Michael Nishizumi's cold, calculating gaze. It was even more chilling since the Russian had realized in that moment he had severely underestimated the German boy's abilities, as well. Manfred had not been fooled by the _maskirovka_ tactics Kolenka was so well known for.

And then the _Panzer_ IV was long gone along with the rest of the Ooarai _Panzerzug._ Kolenka gritted his teeth. " _Za nimi, debil!_ " he sharply commanded his driver to move it, while also calling him a moron thanks to his irritable mood. In response, the T-34's V-2 diesel engine let out a brief bellow of sooty smoke as the tank accelerated off in the direction of the enemy.

Looking back, Manfred saw the Russian _Kapitan's_ T-34-85 turn around and start chasing after them. He made a mental note of it and returned his gaze forward, where the situation was about to get a lot nastier, it seemed, as he spotted four more T-34s up ahead.

 _Killing ground!  
You demanded surrender!_

" _Don't worry about us, we've got this!_ " Akio Kadotani waved off Manfred's concern over comms of his spontaneous plan to take all four of those T-34s on with only his crew and their _Panzer_ 38(t).

The vibrant brunette team Captain didn't like the idea of splitting up even further, but simply went along with it. What other choice did he have? "Alright," he conceded. "Good luck, _Schildkröte._ " ' _Schildkröte_ ' was the callsign for the _Panzer_ 38(t), meaning turtle.

And so the small Czechoslovakian tank charged headlong into the foursome of seemingly titanic Russian tanks. In the gunner's seat, Akio cracked his neck as he grew a confident expression, ready for action. "Well, let's see what our limit is, yeah?" he proposed to his two other crewmates, who were also members of the Ooarai Student Council. The small Japanese young man knew they were very likely to get taken out, but it mattered not as long as he could stall the Russians for long enough, if not take some of them down.

 _Turn around!  
You will never survive_

It was an absolute mess, how the skirmish between the _Panzer_ 38(t) and four T-34s went. The comparatively tiny 37 mm Czechoslovakian cannon often bounced shots if it hit the Russian tanks at too much of an angle, which was a rather common occurrence when attacking the heavily sloped front and rear of the tanks. So instead, Akio saved his killing shots until he could unleash them into the flatter sides of the T-34s, as it was there that the 37 mm gun could penetrate with ease at point-blank.

At one point in time, Erika's Bf 109 and Anna's Fw 190 came in for support. The Austro-Bavarian attacked first, launching two of the 210 mm _Werfer-Granate_ 21 rocket-propelled mortars at the Russians, and taking out a T-34-85 in the process. The Swabian followed, dive-bombing and dropping a 250 kg bomb onto the second T-34-85, claiming that one for herself. Using the 37 mm gun, Akio had managed to take out the two 76 mm-armed T-34s in the midst of the _Panzer_ 38(t) driving circles around them.

 _Killing ground!  
The battle at Severodvinsk!  
Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur-ur-UR-uuuuurns!_

With their work done, the two German fighters sped off into the dark sky, and the Czechoslovakian tank rushed off to link back up with the main _Panzerwaffe._

But, having caught back up and now lurking in the shadows, Kolenka decided to interfere. " _Vali suki,_ " he ordered his gunner to take down that fucker, sticking up out of the commander's hatch on his T-34-85 as he commanded heads-up.

The Russian tank slung an 85 mm BR-365A shell at the Czechoslovakian tank, brutally knocking it out of the fight as it connected. It was honestly overkill against the light tank, but the big Russian tank commander could not care any less presently. He had a fight to win, all by himself if need be. Besides, overkill was kind of his thing, anyway.

Meanwhile, on the Leopold big screens there for the spectators, as well as on worldwide TV broadcast, everyone watching had seen the lightning fast turn-around Ooarai had just performed, when it looked only minutes ago as if they were about to get pummeled into submission.

 _See Ooarai's forces standing tall  
All for one and one for all_

Back inside the church, a massive figurative bomb had been dropped on all of Ooarai's combatants by the Student Council. "If we do not achieve overall victory in this year's International High School Arts of Warfare Tournament… then Ooarai High School will be shut down," Akio had revealed with an uncharacteristic-for-him grave tone.

While that was enough in and of itself to make them all want to fight under a united cause, Erika herself had another reason beyond that and her desire for revenge against Kolenka. A few weeks prior, she and Manfred had gotten a special visitor in the form of the boy's mother, Kikka Nishizumi. She came with a warning that Otto Nishizumi, his father, would have him cast out of the family if he lost against Pravda, to prevent him from further staining their family name, as she had said he phrased it as.

Over her dead body would Erika allow _that_ to happen.

 _Enemies fall at their feet  
Don't forget, no mercy_

So, overall, Erika's three reasons for wanting to so badly win this fight had her showing absolutely no mercy to Pravda. And she had made sure that Manfred understood that she would not accept any less from him, either. No mercy.

With that kind of attitude, it was no surprise that the Russians were falling so shockingly to Ooarai. Some of them were begging for mercy, even. Part of that had to do with just how off-guard they managed to catch Pravda's ground forces with their initial airstrikes, but another large part had to do with the sheer brutality displayed during Ooarai's attacks.

 _See Ooarai's forces standing tall  
Conquer foes and slaughter all_

It just so happened that Otto and Kikka Nishizumi were both in attendance, watching everything on the Leopold. Otto was a man with dark brown hair always kept in a presentable appearance, along with dark brown eyes that were incredibly sharp, not missing a single detail of anything, much like Michael in that regard. He commonly wore a black suit with a blood red tie, with the cold weather of Siberia seeing him also wearing a black jacket. Overall, he was someone in which it was obvious that he was of high prestige, though he was also understated in a way, made plain by how impossible it was to read his expressions and his relative silence.

Kikka, meanwhile, had the same vibrant shade of brown coloring her hair as Manfred had, normally reaching down to the middle of her back like a wavy curtain. She also had that same shade of brown serving as her iris colors. She was somewhat tall for a woman, being just barely shorter than her husband who was about average for a man in height. This evening she wore a wine-red cocktail dress, simple in nature but still matching and emphasizing her own physique masterfully, with black tights, knee-high boots made of dark brown leather with a fur liner on the inside, and a black coat with white fur lining the inside to counter the cold.

Although loyal and submissive, the born-and-raised German woman was also surprisingly bold under cases where that was absolutely necessary of her. Such as now, with this threat to cast Manfred out of the family if Ooarai lost to Pravda. That was why she hid a smile to herself upon seeing how Ooarai had a very real chance of beating Pravda now. She just knew that, if nothing else motivated her, then Erika would find it within her to support her cause and prevent the casting out from coming to pass. Kikka knew just how close of a relationship her neighbor/friends' younger daughter had with her younger son, and she was counting on that aspect to drive her to claim victory.

 _Enemies fall at their feet  
Victory and great defeat_

Of course, the Nishizumi patriarch and matriarch were not the only special guests present in the stands. Before the fight began, Michael Nishizumi only stuck around to give some brief pleasantries to his parents before heading off to sit elsewhere with Isabel-Justina Hartmann and another familiar face from the past: Gertrud Königsberg, with her brown head of gently curled hair reaching below her shoulders, dark brown and sharp irises that indicated a hardened fighter, and her fiery temper that made her prone to often throwing punches at anyone who got on her bad side.

But both Erika and Isabel could attest that, once one got on good enough terms with her, then Trudi, as she had been nicknamed what felt like eons ago, was actually a relatively nice person. A bit quiet, but still a staunch believer in doing what was right.

All three Germans were closely watching the battle now that Ooarai had gotten itself a leg up on Pravda. It was obvious that Isabel was silently cheering Erika on, with the hopeful face she had focused on the screen and the clenched fist that looked ready to fly to the sky with a big whoop. Michael was busied with thinking more of how he would eventually have to break the news that this was not the same Erika that Isabel knew. He had heard from his brother how the blonde had drastically changed, becoming far more hostile and cold-hearted than before.

All he could hope for was that Erika would not remain forever lost in her own darkness, which was exactly what Manfred was thinking at that moment as well. The next moment, he was watching as the skies suddenly started filling with tracer fire and the sounds of fully automatic anti-aircraft guns.

The triple-A was a nasty surprise for Ooarai's _Jagdstaffel,_ and it went on to claim their Ki-10-II relatively easily. The old Japanese biplane was about as far as one could get from a durable plane. Pravda's anti-aircraft fire was strong enough to drive the remaining Ooarai fighters away to higher altitudes, where cloud cover and sheer darkness served as their protection.

" _Verdammt, I should've known Sasha would've planned this ahead of time if that dumb bear didn't…_ " Erika expressed her clear displeasure with this situation over comms to Manfred.

"Don't worry about it," the vibrant brunette reassured, retaining complete calmness even at this unexpected development. "Was it only light Flak you ran into?"

" _For the most part, ja,_ " the blonde confirmed. " _Though from what I saw, I imagine they must have a couple of heavy guns sitting further back._ "

"That's all I need to know," Manfred responded as he hatched a plan in his mind. To his radio operator, he said, "Get me a line to _Nilpferd._ " ' _Nilpferd_ ' was the callsign for the StuG III F, meaning hippo.

His radio operator was an optimistic and friendly ginger known as Samuru Takebe. His ginger-colored hair was on the longer side for boys, reaching his shoulders, and he had a pair of light brown eyes. He was a very friendly and highly social person, very much like a typical adolescent. But he was also notable for his great loyalty to his friends, of which Manfred was one. Hence his lack of hesitation in the least bit to fulfill the Captain's order.

Moments later, the German _Panzerkommandeur_ was watching Kolenka's T-34-85 storm over a snowdrift in pursuit of Ooarai's M3 _Lee_ and freshly-deployed _Char_ B1 _bis._ Why his own _Panzer_ IV F2 and the StuG III F were not mentioned was because they had hidden themselves away in the dips beside the snowdrift.

The German _Panzer_ and _Sturmgeschütz_ were not detected, and so they both climbed back up the snowdrift, proceeding back the way they came from towards the town.

While they were not detected, Kolenka did notice the absence of the two German war machines shortly after, which altered his plans a bit. Observing the distance between him and the other two Ooarai tanks, he calculated that he was close enough to strike accurately. " _Ostanavlivaemsya i valim oboih, bystro!_ " the big burly Russian _Kapitan_ ordered his crew to stop and quickly dispose of the two tanks.

The order went fulfilled, as the T-34-85 came to a halt in the snow and quickly lined up the _Char_ B1 _bis_ in its sights. One shot later, the French heavy tank was knocked out. Adjusting aim for the M3 _Lee,_ several seconds later the Russian tank fired a second shot at the American tank, taking that one out of the running as well.

 _One!  
By one!  
The Russians' big plan!  
Will die where it stands!_

Meanwhile, closer to the town, Pravda's anti-aircraft guns had managed to claim Ooarai's brand new D.520, but they were now being pressured tremendously with the presence of Ooarai's own generous number of anti-aircraft guns ripping apart the Russian AA trucks. The highlight of the Ooarai _Flak-Batterie_ was the very much Jerry-rigged but no less terrifying _8,8 cm FlaK 37 Sfl. auf 18-ton Zugkraftwagen._ In short, it was basically a heavy half-track with the fearsome 88 mm Flak cannon mounted on it.

Gunning for the big Flak truck was Helma Frederike Elisabeth Rosalind Adolfine von Benz, or simply Helma von Benz, a tall, high-class German girl with long black hair and brown eyes. Normally, she was a part of Erika's ground crew, but because of her ability to shoot pretty much anything with incredible accuracy, she often manned the 88 mm Flak gun when necessary. She had extremely accurate shot placement that stemmed from her being an archer for as long as she could remember, a master archer at that. Even now in this battle, she still carried her bow and a quiver filled with an assortment of custom arrows along with her. There were situations in which such a weapon could be exploited.

With everlasting grace, the high-born German girl fired a _Sprenggranate_ high-explosive shell at one of Pravda's own AA trucks, obliterating it completely as shards went everywhere.

 _Killing ground!  
You demanded surrender!_

" _Nimm zurück!_ " the commander of the heavy half-track commanded to withdraw, ostensibly to allow a reload to take place without threat of return fire. It was a smart decision in the end, as Pravda's AA trucks had grown aware of what was going on and had started mobilizing. For what purpose, Ooarai knew not, but either way it wasn't a good sign.

Within the town proper, the StuG III F and _Panzer_ IV F2 found one last opponent besides Kolenka in the form of a 76 mm-armed T-34. The Russian tank tried tracking the _Panzer,_ but the two German machines split up in a move very similar to a double envelopment. That drove the T-34 crew to panic as they tried to keep sight of both targets, but ultimately it proved impossible as in the time it took to decide, the StuG III F had stopped and taken the Russian tank down with a single shot.

 _Turn around!  
You will never survive_

Elsewhere on the outskirts leading up to the town, the battle of the Flak trucks continued on as tracers from both sides created a spectacular show. Overall, the Ooarai side had suffered less losses, but considering the inferiority of their starting numbers, they were not necessarily worse off than Pravda, who had lost many more of their own. The night did allow for an advantage for Ooarai, however, who held their fire until seeing the muzzle flash of Pravda's AA guns give them away.

From the rear of the Ooarai lines, the _Acht-acht_ pulled out into the open, loaded with another _Sprenggranate._ Helma used her sharp eyesight to sight one of the heavier Russian AA trucks, a YaG-10 chassis armed with a 76 mm 3-K gun. And, once again, the shell struck true, blowing the truck to smithereens.

 _Killing ground!  
The battle at Severodvinsk!  
Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur-ur-UR-uuuuurns!_

However, this time, there was no chance for the FAMO to pull back, as Kolenka's T-34-85 spotted it via muzzle flash and opened fire. Reacting quickly, Helma jumped off the half-track, perpendicularly to the left of the shell's incoming path, narrowly escaping the HE blast as she tumbled in the snow and shrapnel flew everywhere.

Shaking her head and getting back up to regain her bearings, she instinctively readied her bow and started running away towards the southern edges of Severodvinsk, where Kolenka appeared to be heading in pursuit of the remainder of Ooarai's tanks.

A side effect of Pravda's AA trucks redirecting their attention to Ooarai's Flak trucks was that they completely forgot about the still-present aviation of Ooarai. This was first highlighted when Erika went in for a strafing run and was able to take one of them out in a single pass.

 _Killing ground!  
You demanded surrender!_

That threw about another change of tactics for Pravda. With the reminder that Ooarai still had air power on their side, the Russian AA trucks started all converging on Kolenka's T-34-85, committed to defend Pravda's leader until their last breath.

" _Esli eta pushka s kryl'yami sejchas zhe ne razob'yotsya, ya vas **vsekh** v gulag upeku!_" the blonde Russian tanker threatened to send the entirety of Pravda's _Zenitnyy Batal'on_ to the gulag if they allowed the Me 410 A-1/U4 to get a shot on him.

 _Turn around!  
You will never survive_

The Russian AA trucks offered their protection as best they could, helping to keep Ooarai's four remaining fighters on their toes enough and avoid any direct challenge to Kolenka. However, there was a downside to this strategy, and that had mainly to do with their speed.

The AA trucks were not able to maintain as high of a speed through the snow as the T-34 could due to higher ground pressure on the part of the trucks, meaning the Russian tank had to slow its pace dramatically to receive the benefits of the AA cover. It was a slow, tumultuous grind through the snow towards the town.

 _Killing ground!  
The battle at Severodvinsk!  
Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur-ur-UR-uuuuurns!_

Up in Severodvinsk proper, Manfred was racking his brain to come up with a plan that would work to take down Kolenka. It shouldn't have been as hard as it was, because Ooarai outnumbered Pravda two-to-one now in tanks with the _Panzer_ IV F2 and StuG III F against the sole T-34-85. However, the younger Nishizumi knew not to underestimate Kolenka's prowess.

There were no plans he could think of that were not absolutely one-hundred percent guaranteed to work, even with that numerical advantage. The T-34's innate balance between the three tank attributes of mobility, firepower, and armor, and the blatant superiority the Russian tank had over the two German vehicles in each of those, made it a difficult foe to counter.

And with time running out until the inevitable showdown with the Russian colossus, Manfred knew he had to think of something quickly.

Meanwhile, the four remaining fighters of Ooarai – Erika's Bf 109 G-2, Anna's Fw 190 A-4, Wolf's Me 410 A-1/U4, and an F4F-3 piloted by a ninth-year German footballer brunette called Alena Klose – were probing the Russian anti-aircraft screen with random strafing runs, oftentimes from different directions as they attempted to disperse them enough to send in Wolf to finish off Kolenka. But Pravda held stubborn, which resulted in more than a few close calls with getting shot down as the four fighters endured scrapes and bangs.

Down on the ground, there were still skirmishes here and there between the two sides' respective AA trucks, but they were nowhere near as intense as before as attrition took its toll, driving Ooarai's _Flak-Batterie_ to fight defensively instead of taking the offensive.

But it provided a good enough cover for Helma von Benz to reach the town before Kolenka did. It winded her to run that fast for that long through the snow, but it was worth it, as now she could set herself up for what looked to be the impending final showdown. She scaled a building to get up onto its roof and prepared herself.

Soon enough, Kolenka's T-34-85 came steamrolling into the town, before slowing down and growing more cautious. Obviously, what remained of Ooarai was highly likely to launch an attack under these circumstances, so Kolenka did his best to make sure he was prepared enough to not allow them to get first shot on him.

Then, from between a few buildings, he spotted the _Panzer_ IV F2 sprinting across the land into cover. The Russian T-34 started approaching in an indirect path towards the German _Panzer,_ carving a path through the openings and gaps in buildings to try and head off the German.

Watching in the stands, Gertrud Königsberg saw the movements of both sides, including those of Ooarai's aviation that circled above like vultures, just waiting for the opportunity to strike. "The sheer abilities of any one warrior are certainly aspects that greatly determine the outcome of any battle. Under those parameters, the strong will always prevail over the weak," she mused, knowing Isabel was listening. She wanted her to listen to her for this. "But the greater deciding factor, I have come to find, is the ability of someone to render the advantages hidden within those abilities null. Strength and superiority over a foe is not limited to sheer abilities on the battlefield. Rather, that strength could also be the ability to out-wit one's foes."

Isabel glanced at Gertrud to her side with an appraising look. In the back of her head, she knew she had already known this, but hearing it again just made it seem obvious that Ooarai was destined to win from the very beginning. Clearly, they were the side that had more wit, the side that was cleverer, compared to Pravda.

Down on the ground, the tank showdown was now much faster in pace as Kolenka started chasing the _Panzer_ IV F2 and StuG III F around the area. It was a wild chase that saw no opportunities for either side to open fire without missing wildly. However, the Russian found himself unable to catch up to either of the Germans. And yes, he knew that there was a German commanding that _Sturmgeschütz._ The commanding style of its commander was characteristically German.

His name was Erwin, or at least that was his soul name. Erwin was a history buff, commanding a group of other history buffs in the StuG III F. He had short blonde hair and wore a field cap that gave him a stunning likeness to _Generalfeldmarschall_ Erwin Rommel, which apparently also extended to his battlefield prowess. He was capable of performing all the same tactics and deceptions as the _Generalfeldmarschall_ himself was, albeit on a much smaller scale, but with no less the decisiveness and confidence than the original had possessed.

But back to why Kolenka couldn't catch up with neither Erwin nor Manfred. It was because he was now receiving fire from that flying tank destroyer that his driver was tasked with evading. " _Chyort, vse menya podveli, pidory ushcherbnye! U vas, pridurkov, byla tol'ko **odna** zadacha, i vy vse ravno oblazhalis!_" he stared furiously ranting about how Pravda's AA trucks had failed him, that they had only one job and yet they still managed to fail at it. Another pass had him evading the sharp boom that echoed whenever that damn 50 mm cannon fired.

Turning a corner, Kolenka didn't even notice he had lost track of the StuG III F, but he found the _Panzer_ IV F2 ahead of him as a far more important target now. The German _Panzer_ quickly turned a corner, and the Russian made to follow, until he spotted something queer just ahead of where the German had turned off at. Realization hit him like a tank shell – no pun intended – upon noticing that was _not_ merely snow, and he hastily commanded, " _Speredi! Ogon'!_ "

The Russian crew of the T-34-85 knew better than to question and fulfilled the order immediately. After the shot was fired, it became obvious that the target was taken out as what was previously assumed to be snow was revealed instead to be a StuG III F lying in ambush.

The Russian commander heard a clang, and discovered an arrow wedged into the hinge of his hatch. Looking around, he eventually spotted Helma von Benz on a nearby roof with her bow pointed in his direction. The high-born German girl merely smirked with an oozing confidence as she tilted her head to gesture to Kolenka's side, the side the _Panzer_ IV had turned off into.

Looking to his side, Kolenka's breath caught in surprise and a hint of dread when he found the distinct ball-type muzzle brake of the _Panzer_ IV F2's KwK 40 aimed straight at him, the German _Panzer_ having come to a stop immediately after turning the corner. A bellow of flames from the barrel's end and a resounding boom were all he remembered before meeting his fate.

The first thing that occurred at the traditional post-battle handshake was Erika swiftly walking up to Kolenka and, before anyone else could react, running her fist into his face with all the strength she could muster. Which was, quite surprisingly, a lot. It was enough to send the Russian colossus to the ground from the sheer force of the blow alone. Finally, one part of her ultimate plan for vengeance was complete. In a few months' time, she would have her chance to fulfill the rest of it.

Looking back up in a daze thanks to the titanic blow, Kolenka saw the pretty face of Erika filled to the brim with pure hatred, but what surprised him were the blonde's lack of continuing to beat him as well as the sideways stance of Manfred, which made him appear like he was ready to spring into action and defend her if necessary. Both were clearly still hopped up on adrenaline from the battle, Erika very much so, but Manfred as well, even if it wasn't as much in his case.

"Ugh…" the big Russian groaned as he brought a hand to his face, feeling the blood that ran from his nose. It astounded him that this little girl was so deceptively strong, in both body _and_ mind. "I deserved that…"

Erika's eyes unconsciously widened at that, and she even took a step back. That was the _very_ last thing she ever expected to hear from that Russian bear's mouth.

Up in the stands, Kikka turned towards her husband with a confident smile in place. "Now what did I tell you, _meine Liebe?_ " she posed to him with a voice betraying her victorious feeling, flipping her hair with that borderline smug grin. "I always get what I want."

Otto merely shot a glance at his wife before returning his gaze to the Leopold. But he did not let her have the last word, "You must surely know, however, that everything I do is for a purpose, _mein Schatz._ " A pointed glance toward her coupled with the amusement crinkling in his eyes told Kikka everything she needed to know, and it infuriated her in the fondest way possible, if such a feeling was possible in the first place. He had _planned_ for her to react and try to counter him as she did, the master of machinations he was.

' _Oh, damn you, you magnificent puppeteer…_ ' Kikka thought with a certain affection. If there was one thing that could indeed be said about Otto, it was that everything he did was for a purpose, however hidden said purpose might've been.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Kolenka:_ Don't think I'll forget this slight against me, you little wretch!

 _Erika:_ If you seriously consider _yourself_ to be the one slighted, then you need to go to a mental institution, buddy!

 _Sasha:_ Well, it's not like he has one of those thinking tools in between his ears...

 _Kolenka:_ Sasha, why... I thought I could trust you to have my back here!

 _Sasha: KHA!_ Not even during the Apocalypse would that happen!

 _Manfred:_ Um, guys?

 _Everyone:_ WHAT?!

 _Manfred:_ Could we just, you know... put this all behind us and get back to our lives?

 _Akio:_ No way! I'm enjoying this! (chews a dried sweet potato)

 _Manfred:_ (mutters) I swear I'm the only sane one here...

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_

 _ **Special thanks to**_ **ChillingComrade _for his Russian expertise._**


	145. Kapitel 27,3,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-drei: Extra Elf**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Mini-Pekoe**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"Would you mind telling me exactly why the bloody fuck we're just being a bunch of damn stalkers?" Douglas whispered with plenty of annoyance to the foursome of Brits he was stuck with again: Darjeeling, Assam, Arthur, and Dennis. "What in God's name are we even staring at, anyway?"

It was not strictly just another normal day aboard the _HMS Ark Royal_ that housed St Gloriana. As Douglas had mentioned, some of the top members of the Arts of Warfare teams were occupied with staring at something from around a corner. That 'something' was a little girl, looking to be in the very early years of schooling. Notable physical features of her beyond her toddler-like structure included how she wore a miniaturized version of the blue St Gloriana girls' uniform and had ginger-colored hair done into a twin-braid twisted bun. And those wide, bright eyes – blue in color – that took in everything around her with great curiosity.

Said girl was sitting at a table, on a stool much too tall for her to have gotten atop it on her own as her dangling feet indicated. On the equally-high table was a teacup, likely filled with some mild tea.

"I know not why we're just standing here staring at her as if she's a target on a hit list," Dennis mentioned. Darjeeling, Assam, and Arthur were the most engrossed in staring at the miniature ginger in wonder, while Dennis and Douglas were just being dragged along for the ride. They didn't even know why they were there, but they just were. That was a fairly common situation for them.

"Lady Assam…" Arthur began in a low voice. "What is that?"

"What do you even mean 'what is that?'" the blonde English tank gunner responded, just as lost as the English Spitfire pilot was. "If you had to ask me to describe it…" A brief moment of thought passed for her as she figured out how to word herself. "I guess I would say that appears to be a miniature Orange Pekoe."

"Wha-what?" Darjeeling stuttered in disbelief. "She somehow shrunk down to that size?"

Both Dennis and Douglas performed massive eye-rolls at the English tank commander's unrealistic assumption. It wasn't an uncommon thing for Darjeeling to assume the most outlandish reason for why something was the way it was. That was just another part of her ever-mind-boggling personality.

Soon enough, the little girl spotted the five Brits watching from around the corner. She seemed to show surprise at first, but it quickly turned to a sense of delighted urgency as she hopped down from her stool.

"Huh?" Arthur went, raising an eyebrow at the unexpected turn in events.

"She's coming this way!?" Darjeeling quietly exclaimed in a startled whisper as she and the others took note of the miniature ginger trotting over toward them, with Assam, Darjeeling, and Arthur mildly panicking from nervousness.

Upon reaching them, the child stopped and smiled up at all five of them before greeting them all, "Lady Darjeeling, Lady Assam, Lord Arthur, Lord Douglas, Lord Dennis… I hope you have a nice day!" Immediately after, she curtsied, which at that age looked sickeningly sweet and adorable. The way she was deliberately slowing down her pronunciation of each of their names also spoke volumes that she was trying really hard to be presentable, which also sent a wave of cuteness out.

Dennis and Douglas didn't hold much of a reaction to this, simply raising their eyebrows at the little girl's performance. However, the same could not be said of Darjeeling, Assam, and Arthur. All three of them grew stars in their eyes at the child's pure innocence, which made them absolutely _enamored_ with her.

"C… Cu…! C-c…!" all three of them stuttered, rendered unable to talk by the sheer cuteness emanated by the little ginger-haired girl. Said girl looked between the three of them as she started getting a little confused by why they were acting so strange.

"By golly, that's the most delightful feeling I've ever felt!" Arthur exclaimed with an idiotic grin as the three of them turned to each other, finally having regained their ability to speak.

"Oh, now I understand how Nonna feels!" Darjeeling gushed over that sweet feeling of dealing with a child. Or, at least, a child-like person.

"Same here, Lady Darjeeling, Lord Arthur!" Assam similarly freaked out, all giddy-like.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere aboard the typically chaotic _Kiev,_ Nonna's head shot up. The Russian sharpshooter ran her gaze around the area, swearing she heard someone talking about her.

She furrowed her eyebrows upon seeing nothing to validate her suspicions. All that she could see in the airstrip area were Nudelmann having a brawl with a bear, Katyusha riding said bear like it was a stallion, and Sasha constructing another pet project of his, this time being a human cannon with the firing range of a long-range artillery gun.

" _Oy,_ Nonna!" the blonde Russian ace called out to Nonna, having caught her gazing around. "You looking for something!?"

She binked a few times to try and rid her mind of the temporary bout of what she assumed was insanity. Nonna then responded, " _Nyet._ It's nothing."

XXXXXXXXXX

Back with the folks of St Gloriana, Darjeeling, Assam, and Arthur were all fawning all over the little ginger bundle of cuteness. They were surrounding her practically as they brought themselves down to the girl's short height.

"Oh, I had some of your tea earlier," the girl tentatively revealed, looking like she was anticipating a harsh punishment for doing so. "I'm sorry, please forgive me."

"Aw, don't worry about it, lass!" Arthur waved off the apology. "It's fine!"

"That's fine, feel free to drink as much as you like!" Darjeeling insisted simultaneously with a look in her eyes that revealed how pliant she was to this small child's hands.

"We have plenty of sweets, too, if you want to give them a try!" Assam further revealed. She had a similar look saying she was under the spell of the little girl's cuteness.

As the three of them fawned over the little ginger, Douglas and Dennis stood off to the side. The entire situation was ridiculous in both of their eyes, as evidenced by how they just simply stared at Darjeeling, Assam, and Arthur without any sort of comprehension. Douglas was just plain creeped out by the three of them, but Dennis was oddly reminded of grandparents that just had grandbabies when he saw the three of them as they were now.

They remained that way for the duration of the three spell-bound folks wrapped around the little girl's finger until the two bystanders heard another set of footsteps coming up behind them. Turning, they saw the _other_ ginger that they knew, and their brains made an idle connection between her and the little girl, as if by instinct.

Orange Pekoe had her own raised eyebrow at all the commotion in the area. "What's going on, mates?" she asked Dennis and Douglas, noticing them not taking part in said commotion.

"See for yourself," the Scotsman gestured with a hand.

The ginger Englishwoman decided to do just that as she approached the three others of their little group that were fawning all over something. What it was, Orange Pekoe had no idea.

That is, she _had_ no idea, until she saw another ginger-colored head of hair in that small group, belonging to someone much shorter than those surrounding it. A brief peek of their face, and Orange Pekoe knew _exactly_ who this little ginger was. "Ah!" she gasped. "You're…!"

The little ginger girl's eyes fell upon the larger ginger adolescent's own similarly colored eyes. Recognition dawned in the younger's eyes as a bright smile lit up her little face. "Cousin Pekoe!" she shrieked in joy, sprinting as quick as her little body could allow towards the elder ginger.

That sent a wave of reactions around the trio previously fawning over the small girl as said little girl embraced the larger ginger. Orange Pekoe bent down to return it while also keeping an eye on the others.

"What!?" Assam exclaimed in disbelief.

"Huh!?" Darjeeling also reacted in similar disbelief.

"Cousin!?" Arthur questioned loudly, also not believing the scene before him.

" _There's two Pekoes!?_ " all three of them finally settled on asking together in a lack of comprehension.

The little girl looked up at Orange Pekoe at that, not fully comprehending what the others were saying.

Having finally understood somewhat what was going on, Orange Pekoe chuckled a little bit. "No, no, you're mistaken," she answered them, waving a hand in dismissal. Bringing her other hand to the little girl's hair, she idly played with the hairstyle that was identical to her own as she explained. "This is my little cousin. She lives with my aunt and uncle over in the countryside." By 'countryside,' she referred to the sections aboard the _HMS Ark Royal_ that were much like a countryside, hence the name. These were often home to people that weren't students, usually being other ship inhabitants like those that ran businesses aboard the ship.

Orange Pekoe continued her explanation as she idly played with her little cousin's hair, "She really likes me and our school, even going so far as to get a St Gloriana uniform and to mimic my hairstyle."

"I came over to bring cousin Pekoe's tuna salad!" the little ginger piped up cheerfully, again drawing the awe of Darjeeling, Assam, and Arthur.

"And you never thought to tell us this _why?_ " Douglas questioned, fixing Orange Pekoe with a mildly accusing glare for not revealing this fact.

The elder ginger shrugged awkwardly. "It never came up before today," she used as an explanation. The Scotsman shot a look that still accused her of withholding such, not believing her words for a second.

"Well, I like her," Dennis said. It was about the only thing he could say, having no comment on anything else there, so he merely settled with an idle compliment.

That was enough to get Orange Pekoe to smile at him, though. "You are too kind," she humbly responded with a slightly bowed head.

"By Jove, I'm going to have _so_ much fun from now on!" Arthur exclaimed with an idiotic grin on his face. Overall, he resembled an overly giddy child with his behavior now. "I can't resist that pure, unadulterated ball of sweetness."

The elder ginger raised an eyebrow at the blonde Englishman. "For some reason, I fear for what kind of antics you have planned," she said. The current behavior of the Spitfire pilot was very uncommon, but if something got him _this_ worked up, then chances were that things would end in such a way that it humiliated everyone else in the area.

"Oh, my, my…" Darjeeling started to gush again, her face flushing in kind. "And here I thought that our Lady Orange Pekoe had shrunk after drinking too much tea!"

The elder ginger grew a bewildered look at her superior's words. It wasn't the craziest thing the English tank commander had ever said, but it certainly ranked up there in the top ten, at least. "What kind of crazy blend of tea would result in _that?_ " she asked rhetorically.

That was when Douglas chose to 'helpfully' speak up again, "Actually, I think those Jerrys at Black Forest Peak managed to-"

"Ugh, no, don't tell me any more, you'll spoil my taste buds!" Orange Pekoe cut off the Scotsman, shaking her head with a disgusted look on her face.

Douglas merely shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, you asked," he pointed out.

"Well, anyways," Assam brought everything back on track as she kneeled down to the little girl's eye level. She was also flushed thanks to her gushing over the little ginger. "I'd like to extend a welcome to you into the one and only St Gloriana High School, Mini Pekoe!"

Orange Pekoe started spluttering at that nickname for her little cousin. "Wha-what are you talking about!? _Mini Pekoe!?_ " she questioned, bewildered even beyond the levels she was after Darjeeling's ace one-liner.

"Mini Pekoe…" the little girl tested out on her tongue. Soon, she grew a blindingly bright smile, illustrating how much she liked the nickname. "Hahahahahaha!" she giggled with joy like the child she was.

That was not to say her cousin necessarily liked the name. "Oh, please don't let it catch on…" she lamentedly muttered.

"Oi, Mini Pekoe!" Arthur spoke up, getting the little girl's attention. "There's something I'd like to try out with you, if you don't mind."

'Mini Pekoe,' as she was so called now, looked up quizzically at Arthur. "…Oooookaaaaay…" she granted, clearly hesitating with wariness.

The English Spitfire pilot clapped his hands once. "Awesome!" he said immediately after, before approaching Mini Pekoe and crouching before her. "I suggest you stay calm for this part," he said in a more serious tone.

The younger ginger had no time to react before she suddenly found herself really high off the ground as Arthur heaved her up onto his shoulders, ergo giving her a piggyback ride.

"Oh, I've been waiting to do this since _forever!_ " he expressed his delight, again smiling that stupid grin as he felt little arms enclose around the top of his head. "By God, I could never do this with our Lady Orange Pekoe with how grown-up she is. But now, with Mini Pekoe, I _can!_ "

Orange Pekoe, Douglas, and Dennis all had blank looks at the Spitfire pilot's actions, wondering what kind of crazy world they just stepped into. "Is that so…" was all the elder ginger said as she crossed her arms.

Assam and Darjeeling were both very giddy at the sight, having also been a part of the attempts to piggyback with Orange Pekoe on their shoulders. "Let me try too, Lord Arthur!" Assam nearly begged with a huge and hyperactive grin on her face. She was so full of energy that she was jumping up and down lightly and without being aware of it.

"I want to give her one, too!" Darjeeling simultaneously said with Assam's request, looking nearly identical to the other blonde in her own behavior.

Meanwhile, Arthur was living in bliss, as his facial expression suggested. ' _Wow, just… wow,_ ' he thought to himself as Mini Pekoe remained on his shoulders. ' _So_ _ **this**_ _is what those Russians feel every time they cart around their leader._ '

XXXXXXXXXX

Back aboard the _Kiev,_ Nudelmann, Sasha, and Nonna all felt a weird chill in the air. It was not just a mere chill, as they would've never felt something like that. They were Russians: as such, they were _plenty_ used to extremely cold temperatures whenever the annual Russian Winter hit.

But this chill was one they couldn't explain, and it stumped them for a bit. Nonna stopped watching Katyusha riding the bear wrestling Nudelmann and furrowed her eyebrow. She glanced around her and saw nothing out of place, so she continued observing her leader, but now she was more wary of her surroundings.

Sasha looked up from his point upon feeling the chill, which took his focus away from his work on his human-launching artillery cannon's breech. Unfortunately, since he had loaded the cannon with a charge of gunpowder beforehand, that little time of lost focus meant the cannon had the opportunity to set itself off, which it did with a massive and deep boom. The Russian engineer's hands immediately went up to cover his ears, but it was in vain. He would likely not be hearing anything besides constant ringing out of either ear for the next several days.

Nudelmann felt the chill, also. He was still fighting the bear – the very same one that Katyusha was also presently riding like it was a horse – when he instinctively stopped, looking around for the source of the chill. Unfortunately for him, that left him open to a massive backhand from the bear, which lifted him off the ground and threw him back several meters. After landing on his back, the Russian crack pilot remained there as he tried to recover from the unexpected hit. " _Uuuuukh…_ " he groaned as he rolled most of his joints around, checking for basic functionality. "Whoever was talking about me is going to get it next time I see them…" he then muttered.

XXXXXXXXXX

A couple of strange feelings were just experienced by Arthur. The first of those was a nontangible feeling, one that he just _felt,_ with no explanation as to why. Said feeling was the feeling that he had just caused a whole lot of chaos somewhere.

The second feeling actually _was_ a tangible feeling. He could feel the little arms of Mini Pekoe clenching tightly to his head, which made him pause for a second. "Oh?" he went, glancing at the smaller ginger out of the corner of his eye. He noticed her eyes were screwed shut. "Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

Atop his shoulders, Mini Pekoe finally opened her eyes, but she definitely still looked scared. "My apologies, Lord Arthur, but… I'm a bit afraid of heights…" she hesitantly revealed.

Immediately upon her words being uttered, Arthur dropped to a prone position onto his stomach, with Mini Pekoe still on his shoulders. "How about this!?" he asked, eager to please her. "Is this better suited to you!?"

"Aw, no fair Lord Arthur!" both Darjeeling and Assam cried foul as they dropped to their knees, with Assam reaching out for Mini Pekoe.

"Come on, let me too!" Assam further tried to convince the Spitfire pilot to give her a turn, to no avail.

' _Well…_ ' Orange Pekoe thought to herself as she, Dennis, and Douglas observed Darjeeling, Assam, and Arthur playing around with her little cousin as if they were children themselves. ' _This is something I really didn't want to see…_ '

But that face of pure enjoyment on Mini Pekoe's face was absolutely a face she would always remember, if nothing else.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back in the real world, Orange Pekoe was just finally regaining her bearings after suffering a heavy hit to her head when she hit the wall. Why she hit the wall with her head was because she was being carted around on top of Arthur's shoulders.

"Dammit, I told you this was a dumb idea!" Douglas berated the stumbling Spitfire pilot. "Please, for the love of all that is holy, stop trying to give piggyback rides!"

"No!" Arthur retorted as he tried balancing himself with the extra weight of Orange Pekoe on his shoulders. He was succeeding, though only just, and after a long string of failures if the massive headache the ginger was experiencing was any indication. "I promise you, I can do this!"

"You said that five times already!" Dennis countered as he and Douglas hovered around the Spitfire pilot, ready to step in again should Orange Pekoe fall.

"It'll work out somehow!" Arthur insisted as he continued trying to get his balance correct. "If I just get the posture right…"

' _It was only a hallucination…_ ' Orange Pekoe thought as the world continued to spin through her eyes. Finally, she got the energy to do something after several seconds, and with that, promptly slammed both her hands into Arthur's eyes, hard.

"OW, _FUCK!_ " the Spitfire pilot loudly cursed, beginning to stumble back from the pain and losing his balance. Orange Pekoe was deceptively strong, being a tank loader, so it stood to reason Arthur would feel a massive amount of pain from any hit of hers.

With Arthur's loss of balance, Dennis and Douglas both rushed in to try and stabilize him to prevent further injury to both parties. Darjeeling and Assam were the second line of defense, meant to come in if the two boys couldn't handle it on their own, which was looking to be the case for this situation. Hence, they also rushed to Arthur and the feral Orange Pekoe who was not at all happy with what she was thrown into.

Watching from a distance, and having quite a laugh at Orange Pekoe's predicament, was her younger cousin, the so-called Mini Pekoe. "Cousin Pekoe looks so funny like that," she noted to herself with a big smile on her face.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	146. Kapitel 27,3,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-drei: Extra Elf**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Ich bin Erika**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Her head kept on spinning, no matter how much she willed it to stop, because she just couldn't believe it. Even after seeing it with her own eyes, she still refused to believe it.

But no matter what her mind convinced her of, Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann was still holding eye contact with Manfred Nishizumi, in front of his apartment aboard the _Zuikaku,_ in the dead of night. Never in a thousand years would she have expected to encounter him again, let alone after only several weeks. She thought that kiss she shared with him would be the last shred of memory of him she would have, as well as his, considering she had pinched a nerve in his neck while they were still lip-locked. That made him collapse unconscious, and after she uttered a soft and brief " _vergib mir,_ " that was the last she had ever seen of him.

But here he was again as fate caught up to her, it seemed. And yet, the most puzzling thing to Erika was that he wasn't upset in the slightest about that. It was highly ironic that Manfred had honored that last request to forgive her for that nerve pinch. Rather, he was more concerned with her, which she could not understand.

Manfred _could_ understand, however, because the Erika he saw now looked like she had hit rock bottom and was just barely clinging to any shred of life within her. It showed physically, as well: the blonde appeared ridden with sickness with how she often had to cough and with how pale she was. She also had a lot less pride in the way she held herself. With all that, he could tell she was on the verge of just giving up on life.

"Are you here to drag me back there?" Erika quietly asked, sounding a lot weaker than usual thanks to both a lack of will and her present cold. "Because you'll be disappointed…" She chuckled ruefully, giving a similarly half-hearted smile. "Then again, I'm no stranger to disappointing people, am I?" The debacle with Pravda sprang forth in both their minds, as well as the disastrous fallout following.

Manfred said nothing for a really long time, just scanning over his very best friend and crush. The thing he knew about Erika, perhaps better than anybody, was that she was much like an overgrown child. While often that meant she brought great energy to whatever environment she was in, it also meant that she _needed_ someone to lean on, or she was completely lost. She could not take care of herself, meaning she would end up as she was now: burdened by illness because she just didn't know how to look after herself.

It would've been something that most people would've scoffed at before telling her to grow up, but it was the honest truth. It was just something she had never thought about before, figuring she had plenty of time to do so with being an adolescent, but being committed to a life alone so abruptly was effectively the hay that broke the camel's back for her, after everything with Pravda and Schwarzwaldspitze.

Suddenly, everything began spinning again for Erika, and she couldn't stand any longer. Manfred rushed over and caught her, preventing her from collapsing. " _Niemals…_ " she answered her own question from earlier, vowing to never go back, lifting her inflexible gaze to meet his own concerned one. "I have resolved not to be held back by Isabel's lack of love for me, but never will I forgive or forget it." She lightly pushed herself away from him as the spinning stopped. "I will never allow myself the chance to be ripped apart from within like that again, nor will I allow myself to depend on someone else's approval ever again. I stand for me and only me."

Manfred could tell there was a double meaning to her words, as a warning to him that she would never let him in close, either. "Then don't," he softly said. Though he was concerned with the kind of person she was setting herself up to be, he had already committed himself to stand beside her when he left Schwarzwaldspitze to search for her. There was no going back now.

And so they were back, the two of them. They were now back at each other's side, and back into the Arts of Warfare. Interestingly, that was how they both reunited for the first time. Both had been called to President Kadotani's office, with Erika being called first. She had no qualms about getting back into the air, although it was a bit surprising to find out that Ooarai even _had_ an Arts of Warfare program in the first place. Though, after finding out it was literally _just_ reinstated, she understood.

But that nearly all came crashing down when Manfred was called in. Erika had actually drawn the knife she was gifted by him against him, ready to throw it by the blade. She was just utterly _terrified_ that he was here. And it wasn't really a logical reason as to why. At first, she had thought he was there to forcibly bring her back to Schwarzwaldspitze, as was ordered of a handful of _Sicherheitsoffiziere_ when she had fled. Of course, she was able to escape after being cornered by them, and in the back of her mind she just knew he would never do that to her, but the fear of her former school's ruthless _Sicherheit_ that had been sent after her still remained strong.

The Student Council members and a few others present had all gone wide-eyed and gasped at the brandishing, but Manfred never even flinched despite having the weapon he gifted her now being wielded against him. Even though he no longer knew her as well as he did before, he still chose to blindly trust Erika, putting faith in her to do the right thing. Eventually, after a long, silent conversation passed between them with their facial expressions, Erika finally lowered her gifted knife in acquiescence. But it wasn't over yet.

The next day in the hangars where everyone in the newly established Arts of Warfare program was, the blonde caught sight of a _Messer_ within, disassembled partially but still sturdy and full of potential. As she walked towards it, she had unconsciously been growing a more confident posture, easing back into familiarity. When she reached it and inspected it, she then turned around, and by that point she had a very powerful posture, looking like she just _belonged_ there.

Even the friends she had made in the short time she'd been aboard the _Zuikaku_ could now see that _this_ was Erika. Both of them just uncovered another interesting tidbit about the strange girl they had on a whim decided to have lunch with. Antonella Silva, with her flowing blonde hair and blue eyes, was wide-eyed and mouthing, ' _Holy shit!_ ' in amazement to Helma von Benz beside her. Really, the power that Erika was exuding right now was easily felt, such that the blonde American teenager was stunned in awe by it.

Yes… Everyone that had signed on to the Arts of Warfare programs' aviation branch – and even those from other branches, as well – could see that this girl was someone to fear. This was her element. This was Erika.

"Get ready, you heartless monster…" she quietly said to herself as she took in the Bf 109E sitting before her, aiming the message at a very particular black-haired teenager that looked startlingly similar to her. "Because I'm coming for you."

 _All embrace me  
It's my chance to come around_

"So," Erika began, taking a moment to memorize all the faces within Ooarai's newly-created _Jagdstaffel._ In total, there were only five aircraft to its name, but even then she could tell that there would be some strain on them. There were enough people to pilot them all, but some of the ground crews would be understaffed. "Let me begin with saying this: I've been doing this sort of thing for ten years now, so I highly suggest you listen to me if you actually have any passion for this. Otherwise…" She pointed off to the side. "You can show yourself out."

Bringing her arm back down and clasping her hands behind her, she continued, "I will not tolerate petty jealousies and internal rivalries. If that becomes a problem, then you will be dismissed." Eventually after she outlined her ground rules, everyone was fully willing to concede to her demands. They were logical demands, but most of them just didn't want to see what would happen if they got on her bad side. They all had the feeling it would be utter hell if they did.

 _Fifteen years have I been waiting!  
To be tip of the crown_

Erika's issues with Isabel had, over the time she was away, begun to foster themselves into a deeply-rooted vendetta and desire to prove herself superior to her.

Manfred knew that over the past year, Isabel had kind of let victory go to her head and therefore hadn't been the best sister to Erika, but this was becoming very concerning seeing just how much Erika held it against her now. When the two were younger, there was no known force that could tear them apart, but as they grew older, Isabel grew more and more competitive and focused on achieving victory until eventually other things came second to that. Last year it came to a peak when they lost to Pravda.

But this was just madness. Erika was literally finding everything she could possibly dig up in her fifteen years of memories to hold against Isabel. And Manfred knew from experience that once Erika set her sights on something, that _nothing_ would stop her from achieving it. _Nothing._

Seeing that fire come up in her eyes again, he knew that she wouldn't see reason to stop until she proved herself the superior sister. Seeing her confidence return held that same connotation to it, but he was able to find a bright side: the old Erika also had the same confidence levels. Maybe this would be a blessing in disguise.

 _No allegiance  
I will swear no oath!_

"Fine," Erika answered Anna Novat's request for her to lead the new _Jagdstaffel._ She lifted a finger to interject. "But… On one condition…" Lowering the finger she continued, looking the Austro-Bavarian straight in the eye as she did. "This _Jagdstaffel_ will be _mine._ I will not accept you interfering and going over my head and commanding my own troops around. If I am to do this for you, then I want total control and a promise that you will not usurp me. _Habe ich mich klar gemacht?_ "

Anna silently cursed Erika's ability to see through her. Originally, she had wanted to share command with her to keep her in line, but now she was being forced to choose between getting Erika's talents and having no way to rein her in, or not having her at all. " _Sie haben sich klar genug ausgedrückt,_ " she eventually, and somewhat reluctantly, answered that Erika had expressed herself clearly enough, ergo handing complete control of the new _Jagdstaffel_ to her. She needed the Swabian. Otherwise, it was as Akio Kadotani had alluded to: they would not be here much longer if they did not get Erika and Manfred to join up.

 _Only me, not any others!  
Now kneel and kiss my toes_

"God…" Antonella swooned one day as she stared at Manfred. "Would I love to tap that… He's _hot…_ " This was shortly after she and Helma had met Erika, but it told enough about her wolf-like demeanor towards the more masculine sex. The black-haired German simply rolled her eyes, already calling it that the American would fail to seduce the vibrant brunette German.

"If you want to die…" they both heard Erika's voice. Both turned to see Erika fixing Antonella with a hard glower, and the American quickly got the idea to back off. But it did make them both curious: clearly the two of them shared history, but they and the rest of her friends hadn't been clued into it yet. Well, Antonella figured that should be her next mission: to get that information out of them in some way. Although, because of how Erika reacted just now, she was taking seduction off the list of possible methods. The fact that the blonde German had just shown such a strong possessiveness of Manfred spoke volumes about how Erika truly saw him, and Antonella couldn't wait for the day where it actually became reality.

And yet, despite that display of possessiveness, Erika more often than not deliberately tried avoiding the vibrant brunette she had known for literally all her life. She was very, very, _very_ reluctant to accept Manfred's offer to live with him, because she still wanted to erase _anything_ from before getting to Ooarai from her mind, including him.

But, in the end, she had to accept because her sense of survival overpowered her preferences. If she didn't accept, she would have fell into an even worse condition than her illness at the time was, possibly eventually ending in her perishing. She may have been stubborn, but her sense of survival kicked back in when it was most needed and saved her from that. Plus, she still felt some fondness for him in spite of what the majority of her mind was screaming at her.

 _I hate that I still want her gentle hand  
But I'll make sure she understands  
Dead to me!_

And that was the least of her troubles within her mind. Or, at least, it paled in comparison to everything else swirling through her head. At present, she was an extremely conflicted person, having believed herself to have lost all previous identity of her after the whole Pravda and Schwarzwaldspitze debacle. Chief among those thoughts troubling her mind concerned her sister, Isabel. At times, she just really missed her and everything she had come to know about her over the years. She missed that big sister that always looked after her without hesitation.

But the next moment she would be cursing her name as if it was truly the name of a demoness, ironic considering her popular nickname was the Black Demoness. That was when she held nothing but pure hatred for her, having bore witness to the monstrous side of Isabel and vowing to never forget it now. This was the side of Erika that felt no pity or remorse for Isabel, nothing but contempt. For all intents and purposes, Isabel was dead to Erika.

 _My time has come  
Over the skies I am queen!_

The most common outlet for Erika's sheer frustration and anger was in the air. But that was not to say she didn't fight solely to relieve stress. In fact, that wasn't even a background reason of why she fought. No, the reason she was fighting so ferociously was out of spite. She wanted to make it known that _she_ was the best in the world.

And that was exactly what she did in each practice fight she took part in before the new season started, having been pitted against the entirety of her own team first, then moving on to take her team against the veterans of St Gloriana, and also indulging the French school Lycée Maginot in a mock battle. All three, she came out the victor, leading the team to victory for the latter two.

 _Isabel, on your knees!  
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
See Erika rise!_

Erika only wanted one thing to come out of her battles for Ooarai. All she wanted was to be considered superior to Isabel, by everyone.

Curiously enough, that was what she got from both her foes after facing them. Group Captain Lynnette of St Gloriana had given due credit when Erika had made her the first casualty of their fight, acknowledging that the blonde German girl knew how eliminating her first would leave St Gloriana's Fighter Group leaderless and unable to retaliate. Furthermore, she had taken great advantage of the British's predominant perceptions of Ooarai as being a nobody, which had led them to not even consider the possibility of going up against an experienced foe like her. And they paid for it. _Dearly._

And then there was _Commandant de L'escadre_ Pierrette, who led Maginot's _Escadre de Chasse._ This blonde, aristocratic French girl had always wanted to take on either of the two Hartmann sisters, desiring the fame of bringing down one of Germany's best to put another tally mark in the French side of the centuries-long French-German rivalry. But considering how Maginot was trying a load of new things during their fight against Ooarai, Pierrette had clearly set her sights too high and overestimated her own forces. So, she was defeated also. It stung, but she took it and commended Erika for her fighting prowess.

Neither team was prepared to see the black-tulip-adorned Bf 109E diving for them with such a savage intent.

 _Claiming all for Enchantress!_

Despite how ruthless she had demonstrated she could be to her foes, Erika did not extend that behavior towards the _Jagdstaffel._ Despite however selfish her reasons for wanting to obliterate the competition could be, not once was she like this with her comrades. While she may have been strict and insistent, she also had a knack for inspiring them to do their very best, which quickly got them all to stand by her without hesitation. If one of them did not perform up to standards, she was perfectly willing to personally help them improve.

That was the case with Alena Klose, a ninth-year brunette footballer who was one of the worse pilots Ooarai had from a skills standpoint. Having demonstrated a lack of trigger discipline in the mock battles, Erika dedicated time to drill it into her the importance of waiting until the enemy was within effective range before opening fire. Such people skills eventually got her the nickname 'Enchantress,' because there was just no way to actually dislike her, it seemed. She just had that sort of personality that made her easily approachable and able to make friends easily.

 _Take down Black Demoness!  
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
See Erika rise!_

Up next was the drawing for the next season's first round battles, which was where the two Hartmanns finally saw each other again after a couple months. When the Black Demoness had strutted her way to the stage, it made Erika shrink a little bit. No matter how much she hated her now, she still felt the amount of power Isabel still had in her, and that instinct as the younger sibling to cower in fear of the elder prevailed in her. Neither actually locked gazes with each other during the whole time, so no confrontation between them took place.

And then there was the encounter in the café, which consisted of her, Manfred, and several friends of theirs running into two of Schwarzwaldspitze's top officers: Erik Ignatz and Michael Nishizumi. Mainly, the interaction consisted of Erika and Erik quarrelling yet again, quite animatedly as they switched from English to German and back to English, but Michael had remained silent, giving a long look to his brother.

"Considering all your showboating, it would be terribly embarrassing if you lost to a 'bunch of amateur nobodies,'" Makoto Reizei – the driver of Manfred's _Panzer_ IV, with shoulder-length black hair with bangs, a pair of hazel eyes, and short height – nonchalantly inserted at one point in response to something Erik said, using his exact words at the end. It made the German glare in contempt at him, but it did silence him. At the end, the two Schwarzwaldspitze tankers both left, but not before Antonella got the last word and called Erik a "winter-headed dickwad," which made Manfred cough as he tried to cover up a laugh, seeing as that was just another English version of Erika's long-standing nickname for the Stuttgarter: _Schneeballkopf._

 _To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
See Erika rise!_

When it came time to take on the American powerhouse Saunders High School, Ooarai went into the battle with great confidence despite being outnumbered two-to-one both in the air and on the ground. It mattered not to the multinational school, they were all in high morale anyway thanks to their belief in Erika being a capable leader.

The battle started out as just trying to avoid being encircled for Ooarai down on the ground because, as they eventually discovered, Saunders was not as honest as they appeared to be. There was a radio balloon deployed by them that allowed them to tap into Ooarai's radio channels and listen to their transmissions, allowing them to predict their actions with startling accuracy.

But rather than destroy it, Manfred had come up with a way to have the balloon play to his own advantage and got everyone to generate false radio traffic, confusing Saunders' ground campaign greatly and allowing them to reduce their numbers.

In the air, it was not quite the same way. Erika had knowledge from prior recon that Saunders' Fighter Wing had fielded a P-38M equipped with an airborne radar. It wasn't as bad as it was on the ground because radar detection abilities were limited by distance, which could be easily built in the air. The German's battle plan was to get her side to evade air-to-air combat wherever they were disadvantaged and remain at low altitude, knowing that radars of this era did not have look-down, shoot-down capabilities.

Further along in the fight, Saunders had begun improvising upon discovering their underhanded tactics were being used against them. This, Manfred and Erika both were prepared for, and even embraced because this meant skill became the determining factor. While not without loss to themselves, Ooarai managed to work together and beat down Saunders until it was them who had the numerical advantage over the Americans.

 _Proved in battle  
Led my folks to victories_

The front page of the Ooarai daily school newsletter greatly illustrated the Ooarai victory over Saunders by displaying an image of Charlotte's P-38E as it burned in the air after it was shot down by Erika. 'OOARAI FORCES ACHIEVE SCORCHING VICTORY IN AMERICA!' was the headline.

If it wasn't made clear before, then now, Erika had definitely proved herself a suitable _Staffelkapitän_ for Ooarai. Morale yet again increased, this time all around Ooarai, as the school's populace generally did not think their forces would even make it past the first round after discovering they were going up against a real powerhouse with Saunders. And yet Ooarai came away victorious. It gave a nice morale boost to everyone as pride in the Arts of Warfare program increased.

 _No one alive or dead commands me!  
I will always run free_

Also with Ooarai's victory, Erika grew even more concentrated on her original goal of achieving victory just to spite Isabel. Now, after seeing it was indeed possible to achieve that reality, she became completely committed to making sure it came to pass.

This was bad news for Manfred, as he now knew that there was no way Anna nor Akio, nor even himself, could reel her back in. Erika, he knew, had always been a free spirit, never letting anyone tell her what she could or couldn't do. She never let anyone order her around if she didn't want it.

Yet, despite that looming threat of darkness over her, Manfred did notice that Erika was also much livelier than she was when he first reunited with her. Now, it was relatively common to see her smiling and having fun with her friends. So the vibrant brunette _Panzerkommandeur_ allowed himself to live this fantasy out, despite knowing that it would never be true.

Alternatively, he could see that Yuudai Akiyama – his tank loader who was a walking encyclopedia on tanks and had very unruly brown hair with matching brown eyes – had directed some curious glances at Erika. The boy had made it no secret that he was a fan of Manfred himself, having watched previous matches involving him, so, by association, the vibrant brunette just knew that Yuudai suspected something foreboding going on with Erika.

 _Hear my orders  
None have questioned me!_

"You all have done tremendously well for your first true fight out there," Erika said to the entirety of Ooarai's Arts of Warfare program with no small amount of pride. "The amount of pride I feel for the group standing before me could not possibly be greater. You have all proven yourselves as a group to be feared by the best in the business. Let this be a stepping stone to something greater, something that _everyone_ will recognize us for, and let us uphold this newly-acquired reputation as an elite band of warriors!"

"YEAH!" " _HURRA!_ " were the two most dominant responses from the multinational group, one in English and the other spoken by the sizable amount of Germans that made up a good portion of the _Jagdstaffel_ and other branches. All of them simultaneously raised their fists in enthusiastic agreement, symbolizing their unity under their commanders.

 _They have full faith in my actions!  
My greatest dream to be_

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING CREATING SUCH A MESS!?" Minoru Kawashima raged in the bowels of the _Zuikaku._ He was the guy who dealt with public relations among the Student Council, but he was perhaps more well known for his strictness and his fiery temper when things didn't go his way. Physically, he was marked for having black hair, an extremely dark brown, almost black, for eye color, and, most oddly, a single eyeglass over his right eye.

"Squadron Leader's orders!" Trace Yeager, leader of the Aeronautics Club, gladly responded watching the Me 163B that had been languishing in storage below decks as it was hoisted up to the top of the ship into daylight. She was within a shaft within the ship itself as she worked to help get a VK 45.01 (P), also from storage, up to the surface, as well. The process was going a lot more roughly for the tank, as evidenced by how some chunks of wall had been taken out of the ship due to the tank's undesired swinging within the shaft.

Trace Yeager was on the tank itself along with the Automotive Club leader Kazuki Nakajima – who, despite sharing the same name, was _not_ related to the Toyota sports car racer and Le Mans winner of the same name – as they both helped to stabilize the tank during its ascent. "All things considered, things are progressing better than I thought they would!" Kazuki felt the need to tell the observing Student Council. It didn't make Minoru any happier, though.

Trace Yeager was an American with quite a passion for aircraft and testing and modifying them. Often, it was she who was the fearless test pilot during these undertakings, which was an obvious conclusion due to how she showed no fear of flying an Me 163 when the plane was first discovered, even though it was a known death trap. She had light brown hair falling past her shoulders and blue eyes. Kazuki Nakajima was Japanese and also a hardcore motorhead, being highly skilled with a wrench as well as behind the wheel. Physically, he had short hair, dark brown in color, as well as similarly colored eyes.

 _I know I was destined to be my own  
Can't help longing for sister's sure tone  
Dead to me!_

Before Erika knew it, the fifth of November had rolled around. Truly, she should not have felt that this day was any different from yesterday, or the day before. That is, she _should_ have, if she had one-hundred percent conviction in her hatred for Isabel. But some traitorous portion of her mind had made her remember exactly what today was.

The reason why November fifth was such a special day was because it was Isabel's birthday. Last year, Erika had led the celebrations, having wanted to relieve the stress Isabel encountered daily as _Geschwaderkommodore._ In that way, she was successful, having given Isabel a party that she was truly thankful for. It was one of the happy memories that one section of Erika's mind loved to torture her with.

But Erika had to retain her resolve. She refused to let herself get caught up in those times and forget the monster that needed to be defeated. ' _Tot für mich,_ ' she reinforced the notion that Isabel was dead to her.

 _My time is now  
Over the skies I am queen!_

This was her time to shine, and she would have it, one way or the other. Such was her mindset when it came time for Ooarai to battle Anzio in the mountainous terrain of southern Italy. Having had the opportunity to carry out a spy mission again, like she had previously with Saunders and, in a way, last year with Pravda, Erika was able to study Anzio's forces in detail.

Overall, the Italian school was not well-equipped generally, and they weren't all that skilled, but they were able to overcome this by their sheer spirit. And Erika did not forget how they still had enough inventory to outnumber Ooarai two-to-one. Not to mention they did have a few pieces of equipment that were quite effective. So Ooarai could not completely write them off.

 _Isabel, on your knees!  
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
See Erika rise!_

"Come on, would you just hold _still!?_ " Francesca growled in frustration as she tried lining up Anna's Fw 190 with her G.55. Such a task was made incredibly difficult by how the _Würger_ was performing the rolling scissors maneuver, which followed an overshoot on the Italian's part that the Austro-Bavarian immediately took advantage of by pulling up, further aggravating the overshoot, while simultaneously Francesca rolled her _Centauro_ to try and recover from her overshoot. This caused the two to continuously try and turn so they could line up their opponents, creating a flight pattern that resembled something like a double helix. Anna was able to exploit the Fw 190's fantastic roll rate in this maneuver, leaving Francesca continually frustrated as she could not do the same at speed.

" _Jederzeit heute, bitte!_ " Erika heard Anna's near-plea over the radio for her to take care of Francesca 'any time today, please.' The blonde ultra-ace did not fail to deliver, diving down to engage the Italian ace. During one of the upward portions of the rolling scissors, Francesca spotted Erika and briefly panicked, having just realized she had fallen for a trap, which played into Anna's and Erika's hands. The Austro-Bavarian was on the downward portion of the rolling scissors at the time, and she simply went into a dive to escape, while the Swabian continued on and lined up the Italian. After a brief burst that landed right on target, Anzio's _Capo del Gruppo_ was down and out for the count.

As she flew back into a zoom climb, Erika commented, " _Irgendwelche anderen Wünsche?_ " At her retort to Anna, asking if she had any other wishes, the Austro-Bavarian simply laughed.

 _Claiming all for Enchantress!_

Anna Novat, despite how easy-going she seemed, still held reservations about allowing Erika full control over the _Jagdstaffel,_ for reasons relating to what might happen were the blonde to misuse that power. She didn't like her lack of mental stability, and she actually knew of how different Erika was from before to know something was wrong with her now. In fact, she was aware of who Erika was the moment she saw her file for the first time. It was the name of her previous school that immediately made Anna snatch her file and read through it thoroughly. Knowing she came from Schwarzwaldspitze set something off within the Austro-Bavarian.

What was written down described Erika as being very bright and smart, and generally being well liked by the student body. It was also mentioned how she was an extremely skilled fighter pilot, which was one reason Anna was intrigued with her. But the other reason, and what really made her stop for a second, had to do with how she was apparently somewhat favored by Schwarzwaldspitze's _Schulratspräsident,_ Bruno Novat. Her fraternal twin brother. Knowing this, it made her realize why Erika was able to see through her coercion all the time: her eyes, which were the only thing she held in common with her brother.

 _Take down Black Demoness!  
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
See Erika rise!_

" _Sie wollen beweisen, dass sie aus Fleisch und Blut ist!?_ " Scharzwaldspitze's _Schulratspräsident_ furiously ranted, waving his finger around for the first half of the sentence and then bringing it down twice during the latter half. " _Dann bringen Sie sie mir!_ " He slammed his fist on the table before him with each syllable, with his smooth and groomed black hair falling in front of his brown eyes in the process.

Bruno Novat was Anna Novat's fraternal twin brother, but most who knew him did not know of this connection thanks to him effectively cutting off his sister from his life. To put it simply, it was over family issues. Rather, he was most well known as Schwarzwaldspitze's ranting yet relentless leader, with a rather short height compared to other boys. The whole deal with his rant this time was with how he had now heard of the no-name school Ooarai reaching the semifinals after being led by someone known as the Enchantress, which pissed him off as he always considered Erika to be the only person worthy of the name ' _Zauberin._ ' He believed this person, whoever it was, to be nothing more than an impostor, and to prove it to everyone, then this ' _Zauberin_ ' should be brought to him.

Hanna Jochen and Erik Ignatz were forced to sit through this rant alone, as Isabel and Michael were away at the moment. They were both aware of the _Präsident's_ fondness of Erika in the past, and yet neither said anything about this ' _Zauberin_ ' actually being Erika. They both knew this from how Schwarzwaldspitze's newsletter had run an article after Ooarai's victory in Italy titled ' _Wer ist die Zauberin Ooarais?_ ' which went into speculation as to who this _Zauberin_ from Ooarai was. Neither told how this _Zauberin_ was in truth Erika, Erik because he had never liked her all that well, and Hanna because she knew there would be massive fallout – _again_ – from mentioning it, and she preferred to avoid that if possible.

 _To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
See Erika rise!_

" _Vorwärts Kameraden! Der Feind ist da!_ " Erwin motivated the Ooarai _Panzerzug_ upon spotting Pravda's T-34s in the snow up ahead. It was extremely cold in the middle of the Siberian tundra during winter, but that frigid of a temperature did almost nothing to quench the fighting spirit in Ooarai's forces.

Almost immediately after, the StuG III F commanded by Erwin and the _Panzer_ IV F2 commanded by Manfred both came to a stop, aimed, and fired their almost identical cannons. Each one destroyed a T-34 as a result, with ease.

Up high in the skies, a massive air battle was underway between Pravda's _Istrebitel'naya Aviatsionnaya Divizia_ and Ooarai's _Jagdstaffel._ Overall, Ooarai had the advantage thanks to immediately deciding to gain the altitude advantage.

" _Zerschmettern wir sie! Fegt sie hinaus durch die Pforten der Hölle!_ " Wolf said to invigorate morale among everyone, just before she lined up a Yak-9UT with a number 77 on its side – Natasha's personal plane – and blew it to smithereens with a single shot from the 50 mm BK 5 on her Me 410.

 _All that's thine shall be mine!  
There's no stopping me_

Erika needed no such encouragement, however, already having plenty of it. This was a fight for revenge in her eyes, so she was absolutely merciless. She had let her allies engage first to break up the Russian fighter force before she swept in and eliminated Sasha with a brief burst of fire.

This battle gave her the chance to finally strip Isabel of her status as the number one fighter pilot in the Arts of Warfare. And she would not be stopped, as much as any opposition may have tried to. All that was Isabel's would belong to Erika when all was said and done.

 _All over the globe  
I will have praise but you'll have none_

Chiefly among those things of Isabel's that Erika desired to completely strip from her was the amount of applause and praise she got. She wanted that to be hers. She wanted it all to be _hers._ She wanted everyone to worship _her_ as they had Isabel, and to leave the elder girl with none.

Diving back into the fray, Erika swept back through and locked herself onto one of many Yak-1s belonging to Pravda. She closed with the Soviet fighter, waiting until it completely filled her windscreen before opening fire with a brief burst. That was enough to shred the Yakovlev and eliminate it from the fight.

 _All your feats will be neat  
Stomped under my feet!_

Flying away and back up into a zoom climb, Erika took advantage of her Bf 109 G-2's more powerful DB 605A engine to quickly get her back up to a higher altitude where she couldn't be reached. She took stock of the situation as it was, seeing how none of her allies had been downed yet and how Pravda's own forces now had roughly equal numbers as them. She waited atop for some time until exploiting an opening the Russians had unintentionally left, diving down quickly and shredding an La-5 with the centerline armament that she had access to with the Bf 109G.

She was making an incredible impression on those spectating her, exercising the patience and skill necessary to lead her six-strong _Jagdstaffel_ against Pravda's might and coming out on top, with no losses at that. She personally shot down at least half of the Russians. The performance had come about due to Erika's desire to spite Isabel and crush her identity by making her achievements pale in comparison to the blonde's.

 _My will be done_

Having seen all of Pravda's aviation eliminated, Erika had gotten a sitrep from down on the ground. After hearing it, she quirked her lips at the sour news at first, because it was bad, but then she tilted her chin up after thinking some more. If it fell to her to save the day, then why not? She was certainly capable of it with how she still had her entire _Jagdstaffel_ ready to follow her will. Plus she could count this as another thing she held over Isabel.

So it was with Erika's helping hand that Ooarai was able to turn the tables and take down the Russians one by one, until they were totally defeated. And, of course, the blonde German ultra-ace delivered a huge punch straight to the face of Kolenka, as she felt he rightfully deserved.

Upon coming back aboard the _Zuikaku,_ the battle's events had already circulated among the student body thanks to Ooarai's fast-reporting press. This time, the newsletter headline was 'NOT EVEN GENERAL WINTER CAN STOP OOARAI!' and the photo was of Erika serving her unique kind of justice to Kolenka as snow lightly fell around them. The blonde German ultra-ace had no idea that moment had been photographed, but she wasn't complaining. In fact, it felt kind of good to know that that Russian bear would be humiliated from its circulation.

Overall, the entire student body was now standing behind the Arts of Warfare program, and they all cheered on Erika without hesitation, dubbing her the queen of the skies. And it wasn't just the student body. Really, just about _everyone_ aboard the _Zuikaku,_ and even many in the ship's home port of Ooarai, were a part of her fanbase. And it didn't end there, as there had been parties from other schools around the world spectating Ooarai's battles, rooting for their side. She was being treated as though she were a goddess. Everybody loved her.

She had gotten a strong and loyal following. And she willingly gave back to that following. For instance, she agreed some time ago before the tournament to do an internet series with Manfred, Yuudai Akiyama, and Natalie McBraun – a Canadian girl with style-less brown hair and blue eyes, with an extreme knowledge of aviation and a huge loyalty to Erika and Manfred both – talking about the stuff that went on with Ooarai's Arts of Warfare program, as well as talking about tanks and fighters, and getting into the history and tactics of them both.

But there were a couple of people aboard the ship that knew there was another person underneath the blonde German girl. These people knew Erika better than her entire fanbase, and knew that she was not necessarily the smiling, humble, and honorable face everyone else saw. The differences on the surface were subtle, but they were still there, and they hinted at how there were massive differences underneath.

Most obvious in that line of thinking was Manfred Nishizumi. Having known Erika for literally his entire life, he knew that this was _not_ the real Erika. In fact, upon being welcomed back aboard by an absolutely massive crowd after their victory against Pravda, Erika had, amidst her smiles and humble waves to the crowd, locked gazes with him as she took in all the people cheering for her. Though it was hard to tell, she had sharpened her gaze upon him, which made her look positively villainous with her smile. It was as if she was saying, ' _See what I can do? See how much better I am than that monster I'm forced to refer to as my sister?_ '

Manfred couldn't believe that Erika had turned into this… this… well, there was hardly any word better for it than 'monster.' Though it appeared quite the opposite to the general public, Manfred was able to tell this Erika was absolutely heartless with how she was doing all this for nothing more than to make her sister suffer. Oh, if only she knew just how much suffering she had already caused, unknowingly. But he could not possibly tell that to her, unless he saw no other choice. And now, it was looking like he may have to use that last card up his sleeve.

He was not the only one aware of this. Among them all were also Anna Novat, who knew of Erika's past thanks to the blonde being someone Bruno Novat had admired and approved of, and the rest of his friends, which comprised his tank crew and Erika's ground crew. But back to the Austro-Bavarian, she was positive that her brother had not been captivated by _this_ Erika. Ergo, it made her want to see the Erika that he _did_ admire.

Manfred had eventually caved in and told his other friends about Erika and their intertwined past, but there were two in that group that had first-hand experience to help them realize that this Erika was a volatile, raging, vengeful monster.

Antonella Silva and her best friend and fellow ground crew member Daisie Faul – a girl with little more to her name than her brother and her intellect, with black hair, very dark brown, nearly black, eyes, and a stature just a tinge shorter than Erika's – had both gotten an airlift across half the Pacific after the first round to see Daisie's brother in the hospital in Ooarai. The ones who had provided the airlift were none other than Schwarzwaldspitze's own Michael Nishizumi, Erik Ignatz, and the pilot herself: Isabel-Justina Hartmann.

The two were caught off-guard greatly by how she was present at that fight all along, yet never once made to actually see Erika. At first, Isabel had tolerated the constant prodding and questioning from the two invaders of her cockpit, but eventually Isabel snapped at the two's accusation that she was heartless, slamming her still-broken left fist into part of the dash and screaming, "SHUT UP! YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT ALREADY!?"

For a long time, neither party spoke. Antonella and Daisie just watched as Isabel tried holding in her emotions, but failed as she sniffled through her breaths. After calming down, the black-haired ultra-ace finally caved in and, sullenly, spoke about everything that had happened to make her as she was today. The two Americans had been opened into the other side of the two Hartmann sisters' history, and, however much they saw her as their friend, it made them aware that Erika's side was not the right side.

 _I hate that I still want her gentle hand  
But I'll make sure she understands  
Dead to me!_

If Erika had to be honest, she wished she could run back into Isabel's arms and just apologize for everything she had wanted to do to her. She just wanted her back. Or, at least, that was one insolent part of her mind wanted to do.

The other parts tried to rationalize that this was just unneeded fear on her part, brought about by how now that they had defeated Pravda, Ooarai was next scheduled to face Schwarzwaldspitze for the final. Those parts of her mind just chalked up that fear as being fear of encountering Isabel again and having no way to avoid it. Those parts convinced her that she _must_ bring her down, to treat her as just another foe to exterminate.

 _KNIE VOR MIR!_

Erika looked over the inventory Ooarai had in the hangars one night. In preparation for the fight against Schwarzwaldspitze, there had been additions to the Arts of Warfare program's inventory, primarily the two new tide turners added in: the VK 45.01 (P) and the Me 163 B-1a. New personnel were recruited to operate the new equipment. There were also modifications made to improve existing Ooarai equipment, which again included Erika's Bf 109. This time, it was further modified with a new engine and armament to create a Bf 109 K-4, the final and most potent form of the legendary _Messer._

It was silent in the hangar, yet Erika still managed to sense someone else approaching, even though they were soundless. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Manfred approaching, but stopping a ways away from her upon being spotted. Tensions between the two had escalated significantly recently, ever since they began to prepare for taking on Schwarzwaldspitze in a few months, and as Erika turned to fully face him and fixed him with an icy stare devoid of attachment, it looked like things would come to a head right now. " _Ich sage es noch ein letztes Mal,_ " she began her final warning. " _Du bist entweder bei mir… oder gegen mich._ "

 _Over the skies I am queen!_

Erika had thus given her ultimatum for one last time to Manfred: he was either with her, or against her. The two stared at each other for a long time, various thoughts flowing through both of them about what was about to unfold. " _Ich bin immer bei Erika…_ " he finally said, breaking the silence with his insistence that he was always with Erika. " _… aber du bist nicht sie._ " He immediately countered though, with the claim that she was not Erika, that this monster in front of him was not Erika.

As quickly as his response ended he had swiftly drawn and thrown a crowbar he had picked up earlier at Erika. The blonde reacted immediately, drawing her knife - the one he had gifted her almost a year ago - and preparing to throw it at him, which was a terrifying thing to think about considering she had never missed with it whenever she practiced throwing it at targets. However, Manfred had foreseen her response, and had deliberately aimed his throw at where her right arm would be. Ergo, when the crowbar struck its target, Erika cried out and dropped the knife due to the pain that shot up her arm.

 _Isabel, on your knees!  
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
See Erika rise!_

Manfred had immediately charged toward her after his throw, but Erika side-stepped to the left and evaded, coming back to try and chop his neck with her left hand, her good arm. However, Manfred carried his momentum to take him forward out of her reach. He turned to face her before quickly evading to his left to avoid a punch thrown by Erika's bad arm. He counterattacked and tried to sweep her feet out from under her with a sweeping kick of his left foot. But Erika avoided by jumping over the attacking limb.

Seeing an opening, Erika rushed behind Manfred and tried to get him into a hold. The vibrant brunette countered, however, by ducking and allowing the blonde's momentum to carry her over him. He assisted the momentum as he pulled her over and toward the ground before him, on her back and looking up at him with the eyes of someone who was mad. Erika aimed a jab at his family jewels, a true low blow, which he only just barely avoided by stepping back, but it gave enough time for the blonde to hastily jump back to her feet. This put them on equal standing again.

But Manfred did not allow Erika to gain the advantage as he pressed an attack, throwing a quick right-left that she blocked with her arms, the first right-hander with her left, and the second left-hander with her right. He threw another right-hand jab, but this time, Erika caught it with her left hand.

 _To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
(Claiming all for Enchantress!)_

Erika bashed her forehead against his, knocking Manfred back as he briefly grunted in surprise while he reeled from the sudden blow. He brought up his left hand to rub his aching head, but quickly brought it back to ready as she pressed her advantage and swiftly charged for him, aiming for an uppercut with her left hand that he only slightly evaded by jumping back. Following up her first attempt, she immediately tried to deliver a heavy punch straight to his face using her right arm.

Manfred registered that as a vulnerability on her end because that was her bad arm after she had been disarmed with his crowbar hitting her there. So he blocked the punch with his left arm, being sure to push it to the side with a lot of force. That had a noticeable effect, as she briefly cried out in pain at her earlier injury being aggravated.

 _(Take down Black Demoness!)  
To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
See Erika rise!_

Manfred took advantage of the brief time Erika was stunned and brought up his right foot, striking just under her breasts with the bottom of his boot and knocking the wind out of her, sending her careening back, where she ended up on her back again on the floor. Erika looked back up just in time to see Manfred approach her with that incredibly chilly gaze he typically wore in battle, where he was only focused on one thing and one thing only: eliminating the enemy. Only, in this case, the enemy was her.

When he came close enough, she sprung up faster than he could react and grabbed him by his shirt. She turned the tables on him by rolling them and pinning him on the ground, reversing their original positions. She immediately brought her left fist down to punch him across his cheek. His head snapped to his left from the blow as he felt the sting. She then brought down her right fist, but he countered by jerking his head away at the last second, making her punch the hard concrete instead.

Again, that was her bad arm, and she cried out again as she further aggravated it. That gave him the opening to try to shove her off. But Erika had gripped him by the collar with one hand, pulling him up with her. Her other hand she brought to his throat and began squeezing it tightly, attempting to choke him. She had a very strong grip, one that he could not break out of. Soon after, Erika threw Manfred several meters away, throwing him with her right arm that had its hand around his throat, where he landed on his back, out of breath and in pain just about everywhere.

 _To the skiiiiieeeee-iiiiieeeees!  
See Erika rise!_

Looking up, Manfred saw Erika slowly walking towards him, eyes wild, breathing heavily, and looking appropriately disheveled as a result of their fight. He knew he looked the same way. Both of them had a number of bruises and were bleeding from some of their more severe wounds, like on both of their foreheads and Manfred's right cheek that was split, as well as on Erika's right arm where the crowbar had hit her.

Finally, Erika reached him, and Manfred could do nothing about it, having been beaten. He had failed. He had failed to save Erika from her own darkness. Now, all he could do was wait for her to finish him. He knew that she was mad enough to do it without a second thought right now, but even now, on the verge of being finished off, he still held hope that the light within her would come back. He still believed in her to do the right thing, even now, not for any logical reason, but because he just had that unshakable faith in her still.

Erika stared down at him, disheveled and all, ready to eliminate the final remaining obstacle in her ultimate plan for vengeance and therefore ensure its guaranteed success. Nothing could stop her now.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	147. Kapitel 27,4,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-vier: Extra Zwölf**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Riesen-Arraipe gegen Ooarai Kampfgruppe – Outtakes**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 **Opening Narrative – Take One**

"When I was young, I always felt a lot smaller whenever I looked up at the stars," Erich spoke into the microphone in the studio room, being sure to put a sort-of reminiscing tone into his voice as needed. "There were just so many of them up there. But then I grew more curious the longer I thought about them. Why were there so many? Maybe it was because the number of stars was directly related to the amount of times I reached sexual euphoria, and therefore-"

All of a sudden, the blonde German stopped his narrative upon realizing exactly what he was saying. Up in the control room, the director of the film, Chuck, raised an eyebrow. He had also sensed something obviously wrong with the narrative. Several others observing the recording also came to the same conclusion, and many tried not to snicker.

After several seconds, a sigh was heard from Erich in the sound booth. "Okay, which one of you dicks switched out my script?" he asked, unamused as he looked to the glass separating him from the rest of the crew.

"Wasn't me," Anton raised his hands in surrender. He answered only because he saw how Erich had looked at him first. Really, it was not him, though he was trying _really_ hard not to smile and show that he found that hilarious.

"Nor was it me," David dismissed from right next to the blonde American. He had no such trouble with hiding his amusement behind his master poker face.

In the back of the recording room, the blonde German caught a vibrant brown head of hair ducking to be inconspicuous. With that gesture alone, he knew who was responsible for switching out his script. "Yes, go. Walk out that door," he spoke up, pointing to where he saw the head of vibrant brown locks and flicking his wrist, ergo directing his finger in a motion as if to shoo someone.

Almost as if bending to his will, everyone parted so that he could see who was in the back. He was completely unsurprised to discover Miho was the one who did it.

Pointing at her again, Erich stated to her, "You will pay for this in the bedroom."

In response, several people present broke into snickers, while some started outright laughing. Miho, however, simply smiled a devilishly seductive grin, as if finding such a threat wasn't truly a threat.

"Cut," Chuck called the scene finally. In response, Ray, manning all the recording equipment, cut the previous audio record and set up to perform another take.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Opening Narrative – Take Two**

"When I was young, I always felt a lot smaller whenever I looked up at the stars," Erich voiced, this time with a new script. "There were just so many of them up there. But then I grew more curious the longer I thought about them. Why were there so many? Maybe it was representative of the amount of hard, honest workers that had embraced the glorious wonders of communism-"

Again, the German suddenly stopped upon realizing that this was another false script, except rather than something straight out of a heavy romance novel, this time it was communist propaganda. Up in the recording room, Chuck covered his face with his hands, not out of exasperation, but to muffle his laughter. Ray made to cut the audio and prepare for another take, but the burgundy-haired American patted him frantically with one of his hands, shaking his head frantically in a way that said, 'no, keep rolling, this is gold!'

Back in the sound booth, one of Erich's eyebrows twitched. Next, he slowly removed his headset and hung it on the microphone. Everyone watching through the glass saw how he remained utterly still for a few seconds before just exploding in a frenzy of activity, throwing his script at the glass in fury.

" _WER HAT DER RUSSE AM SET GELASSEN!?_ " the blonde German raged in the booth, demanding an answer as to who let the Russians on the set. " _JENE SCHEIßTROLLE KÖNNEN MICH AM SCHEIßARSCH LECKEN, VERDAMMT!_ "

Chuck just gave up on trying to keep quiet and started laughing in earnest. He understood enough German to know that Erich was cursing quite vigorously.

A few there could _fully_ understand Erich's tirade, namely Miho and Herz. They perfectly heard him say that those fucking trolls can kiss his fucking ass, dammit.

Just outside the studio, the German's tirade could still be heard loud and clear, and Sasha and Nudelmann just burst into laughter, " _KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA KHA!_ " Their prank was a success, and the two Russians high-fived to congratulate themselves.

"Okay, okay, cut," Chuck regained his composure a few minutes later, sitting up straight. When Ray cut that audio recording, the burgundy-haired American leaned over and whispered, "Save that." The _Night Lightning_ pilot quirked an eyebrow, to which Chuck answered with a look saying to just trust him. Ray just decided to go with it and saved that recording, before setting up for another take.

Chuck finally paid his attention to Erich in the sound booth. The blonde was taking no chances this time, skimming through the entire script he was given this time to see if anything was wrong with it. Finally, after seeing nothing was amiss, Erich set the script before him, and then Chuck spoke up, "Okay, from the top, Erich."

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Erich Informs Miho Scene – Take One**

" _Hey, that didn't do jack,_ " Miho heard Erich's voice over the radio in her _Panzer_ IV. The Bf 109 Erich flew was plenty audible over the line.

"What? Seriously!?" the light brunette reacted in disbelief.

" _Nichts,_ " the blonde confirmed. " _I think all we did was piss it off._ "

"Ugh…" Miho groaned and rubbed her forehead. She then smoothed her hand over her dark blue Ooarai _Panzerkraft_ jacket. For several seconds, she remained silent.

Several seconds became too long to ignore any longer, and finally Erich came in over the radio again. " _You forgot your line, didn't you?_ " he asked, saying it like it was a statement.

Miho flushed red in embarrassment, and she looked about ready to refute him, but instead just sighed and hung her head. "Yes," she quietly admitted. She hated admitting he was right when he was so smug about it.

Chuck sighed from behind the cameras. "CUT!" he declared, and the scene was cut in response. The cameras kept rolling still, however, for reasons exactly as this: to capture bloopers.

" _Bubi,_ you better stay quiet or I will gladly remove your ability of speech at the next opportunity," Miho grit out over the radio, completely intolerant of the impending smug attitude she was predicting would come.

" _With what, exactly?_ " the blonde retorted, not seeming to care in the slightest. " _Because there are…_ _ **enjoyable**_ _ways to be deprived of it._ "

"I swear, I will sew your mouth shut," Miho threatened, not even bothering to say anything about the innuendo he just made.

" _Bah, that's not original enough,_ " Erich countered as if it was no big concern. " _I don't feel scared enough, yet. Surely you've got something better?_ "

One of the vibrant brunette _Panzerkommandeur's_ eyebrows twitched.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Sodoko Informs Miho Scene – Take One**

" _Captain!_ " Miho heard Sodoko's voice come over the radio. " _We finished up with excavating the- oh, dammit!_ "

The entirety of the _Panzer_ IV crew broke into giggles at the goof, except for Mako, that is.

"Tongue-tied, Sodoko?" the aloof driver asked with a straight face.

" _Shut up, Reizei!_ " the Public Morals Committee head retorted. " _You hardly have any lines, anyway!_ "

"As do you," Mako countered smoothly.

" _Shut up!_ " Sodoko demanded, unable to come up with a counter to that. Until she did, " _And don't call me Sodoko!_ "

"CUT!" Chuck declared again, and the scene was cut.

However, before he got the chance to say anything else, the burgundy-haired American noticed Christian on one of the computers manipulating a chronologically earlier scene, the so-called 'Defeat of _Hetzer_ and _I-Go_ Scene,' messing with CGI to generate a scene of the volleyball girls literally flying out of the top hatch of their tank like they were superheroes.

"Christian, for fuck's sake, what are you doing?" Chuck shook his head in disbelief as he asked.

The crack pilot momentarily turned to Chuck, briefly acknowledging him before turning back. "Pulling a Marvel," he explained, going back to what he was doing prior.

"'Pulling a Marvel?'" the burgundy-haired American repeated, not quite understanding what he meant by that. Of course he was aware of Marvel and all their films, but what Christian had meant he did not know.

"Yeah," the crack pilot confirmed with a nod. "Absurd villain, humorous heroes, near-nonsensical plotline, the works."

"Just find a way to make Thor fight Hulk again and I'll be happy," Kay chipped in to the Marvel discussion from where she controlled all the lighting.

"Honestly, something like this _is_ probably best fit as a Thor film," Naomi contemplated with a hand below her chin in a thinking pose. She was over to the side of the set. "The otherworldly monster just kind of pulls it into that group."

"Well, hey, it could also be a Hulk film!" Alisa retorted, looking over toward the crack shot tank gunner from the other side of the set. "Monster versus monster, just like with the first one!"

Chuck looked up to the sky. ' _God, give me strength…_ ' he prayed silently.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Miho Asks for Erich's Music – Take One**

"Hey, _Bubi,_ can you put on some _Musik?_ " Miho asked over the radio in the _Panzer_ IV to Erich.

" _Oh, so_ _ **now**_ _you ask me for my Musik, now do you?_ " the blonde returned in mock-offense. His Bf 109 was easily heard in the background.

The vibrant brunette grew an amused grin at his response. "Yes, I am," she confirmed her wish. "It would fit the mood very well."

Erich let out a long sigh of mock-exasperation before he said, " _Alright, I've got just the one._ "

As her _Panzer_ IV kept driving, Miho soon heard over the radio, " _Do you have bugs infesting your apartment?_ "

" _Oh, come on!_ " Erich complained simultaneously as the other voice continued on. " _Goddamn ads…_ "

" _Are you suffering from literal bedbugs at night?_ "

"CUT!" Chuck called the scene. At that, the camera crews stopped recording.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Miho Asks for Erich's Music – Take Two**

"Hey, _Bubi,_ can you put on some _Musik?_ " Miho asked over the _Panzer_ IV's radio to Erich.

" _Oh, so_ _ **now**_ _you ask me for my Musik, now do you?_ " the blonde retorted as if having taken offense. The _Messer_ he flew was easily heard in the background.

Miho grew a smile in answer to the blonde's behavior. "Yes, I am," she responded. "It would fit the mood very well."

Erich let out a long sigh of exasperation, even though it was also obvious he found the situation amusing as well. " _Alright, I've got just the one,_ " he said.

Miho's _Panzer_ IV kept on its predetermined path, but what she heard next from the radio was, " _Are you suffering from incompetence?_ "

The vibrant brunette laid her head back and closed her eyes, knowing already that they would have to do another take. Just from his silence, she could tell that Erich was about a millimeter away from blowing a gasket.

" _Is your little man just not up to snuff?_ "

"CUT!" Chuck called again. The cameras stopped recording yet again.

" _Situations like this is why I absolutely_ _ **despise**_ _Amerika…_ " Erich gritted out through the radio. " _Damned ruthless, vulture capitalists…_ "

" _Well, fear not! Because with the brand new, absolutely one-hundred percent proven-to-satisfy Orgasma, you, too, can go screw an entire brothel without even breaking a sweat!_ "

Admittedly, Miho felt the same way as Erich did about the onslaught of advertisements the Americans were so fond of orchestrating, but not even she could stop herself from lightly snickering at this ad. Many others on the set just broke out into howling laughter.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Miho Asks for Erich's Music – Take Three**

"Hey, _Bubi,_ can you put on some _Musik?_ " Miho asked Erich over the _Panzer_ IV's radio.

" _Oh, so_ _ **now**_ _you ask me for my Musik, now do you?_ " Erich's voice returned with something resembling an offended tone, yet also amusement. His Bf 109 was clearly audible in the background as the DB 605 continued churning out power.

The vibrant brunette nearly giggled at the blonde's words and tone. "Yes, I am," she answered him, still with a smile on her face. "It would fit the mood very well."

She heard the German ultra-ace let out a long sigh of exasperation or annoyance mixed, yet she could just hear the smile on his face nevertheless. " _Alright, I've got just the one,_ " he promised.

Miho's _Panzer_ continued driving along its route, the girl herself silently hoping no ads interrupt this take as they did with the last two.

However, it was not meant to be, and she merely sighed as she heard over the radio, " _Sind Sie stocksauer, wie der Präsident Schwarzwaldspitzes?_ "

' _Wait a minute, I remember that ad!_ ' Miho mentally realized, eyes widening in recognition of the narrating voice, as well as the slow-motion playback of her old _Präsident_ yelling in the middle of one of his tirades that overlapped that line simultaneously. The narrating voice belonged to his _Manager für Öffentlichkeitsarbeit,_ or Manager for Public Relations. ' _That's the ad for the Bleistift des Verhängnis!_ '

" _Widerspricht irgendjemand all Ihren Plänen?_ " the advertisement continued on. Partway through, something was heard opening up, and the sound of rushing wind invaded the radio. " _Vielleicht ein fischliebender Kartenperverse-_ "

All of a sudden, the ad was cut off. Following this, there was a clunk, and the rushing wind noise stopped.

Outside, Chuck and Kay were both looking up at the sky with binoculars, watching Erich's Bf 109. "Did he just…?" Chuck asked, hesitating as he wondered if what he just saw did indeed just happen.

"Yep," Kay answered, popping the 'P,' as she continued watching the _Messer._ "He just threw his phone out of his plane."

"Ugh…" Chuck groaned, looking straight up in exasperation as he brought down his binoculars. "CUT!" He then turned to Alisa who wasn't far away. "Get a recording of the song and play it over the radio." Turning back to the scene, he added, "I'm sick of these fucking ads."

XXXXXXXXXX

 **History Buffs in the Pond Scene – Take One**

As the cameras began recording, a few seconds elapsed until the entirety of _Hippo_ Team broke the surface of the pond. All of them gladly started taking in deep breaths to get precious oxygen into their starved lungs.

"That Arraipe's got quite the surprise attack!" Erwin remarked in the midst of regaining her breath.

"I don't think I can be surprised anymore than that," Caesar thought aloud.

During the Italian buff's line, Erwin had lazily looked around and discovered a garment of clothing floating on the surface. "Hm?" she hummed in question, reaching out for it and inspecting it. "This is… Oh." Her eyes widened in alarm upon discovering she was holding a skirt.

Saemonza started to climb out of the pond as was scripted, but Erwin hurried over to stop it. "Wait, wait Monza! Don't get up!" she called out to the Sengoku-era buff.

"Hm?" Saemonza went, wondering what was up. "What?"

She had not realized it, but Erwin had: the skirt the German had found had belonged to Saemonza, and apparently had come off sometime while the four of them were in the pond. Ergo, she had nothing covering the lower parts of her body.

Erwin had already rushed over and cast a hand in the path of the camera to prevent it from catching sight of Saemonza's unmentionables. "CUT!" the German declared. She then glared dangerously at the camera. "And do not even _try_ to record that!"

Chuck turned his head down and shielded his eyes with one of his hands to give due respect. The rest of the film crew found ways to avert their gaze as well, whether it be through physically covering their eyes, turning around, or reorganizing to perform another take when ready.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Saki Runs to Arraipe Scene – Take One**

Saki was urgently running down the hill as fast as she was able, taking care to keep her balance the whole way down. Behind and trailing with their multi-ton selves were the _Panzer_ IV H and the M3 _Lee._

But she tripped over herself partway down, and lost her ability to stay upright, collapsing to the ground and into a barrel roll. She rolled down the hill like a log, arms stretched forth and legs straight. She rolled as such for several rolls until she slammed straight into the camera.

As a result, the camera and the crew for it got taken along for a ride, as well. The camera captured all this tumbling and all the crashes and smacks that resulted. Finally, the camera came to rest pointing in some direction of hilly scenery. That is, until it turned towards Saki, by her own hand.

Coming down the hill and clearly audible through their footsteps were the members of _Anglerfish_ Team and _Rabbit_ Team. Coming from the mouths of the various members of the two teams were things like, "Saki!?" "Saki, are you okay!?" "Are you all right!?" and things of that nature.

"Camera…" was all the normally-silent Saki said. She said such while looking into the lens with her not-all-there expression.

Chuck had repeatedly winced with each impact Saki and the camera crew made. "Cut," he wearily declared.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Rabbit Team Report Scene – Take One**

"Saki found the little Arraipe on the beach yesterday…" Yuuki revealed with hands clasped together and an overall nervous demeanor. To her side was Karina, whose heart beat in sheer anxiety for her own upcoming line. But she did a great job in not showing this in her actions. "… We had thought about reporting it somewhere…"

"But it only wanted to be around Shaki-D'oh!" Karina said her line, but goofed at the end with Saki's name.

"CUT!" Chuck declared, and the film crew reset for another take while the other _Rabbit_ Team members all had a giggle. Even Karina herself managed to laugh off her goof.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Rabbit Team Report Scene – Take Two**

"Saki found the little Arraipe on the beach yesterday…" Yuuki reported with hands clasped and just looking pretty nervous in general. "… We had thought about reporting it somewhere…"

"But it only daunted-Augh!" Karina said her line, but she goofed again with saying 'daunted' instead of 'wanted.'

"CUT!" Chuck declared again. In response, the film crew again began resetting for another take. In the meantime, Karina held her face in her hands as she despaired over getting her line wrong _again._

During the intermission, Karina took the time to drill the line into her head, and even gave herself some motivation by lightly slapping her face to focus herself even more. No, she would _not_ get her line wrong again.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Rabbit Team Report Scene – Take Three**

"Saki found the little Arraipe on the beach yesterday…" Yuuki said with hands together, looking nervous. "… We had thought about reporting it somewhere…"

"But it only wanted to be around Saki…" Karina said her line. _Correctly,_ this time.

As the scene moved on to focus on Saki and Miho's interaction, Karina triumphantly raised a fist.

"Yukyuari…" Miho began her part, but her face scrunched up as if she was about to sneeze. "Ah…!"

"CUT!" Chuck declared. Obeying his word, the film crew began resetting for another take.

"Ah, never mind, caught it!" the vibrant brunette reassured, having managed to avoid sneezing. Immediately after, she was practically assaulted by Karina, the girl being immensely frustrated at having to perform yet _another_ take of her scene.

"Dammit, Captain, why!?" the ninth-year went on her tirade, swinging her fist animatedly as she ranted. "I worked _so_ hard to get my line down, and now we have to start all over again!"

Miho held her hands up in a placating gesture, looking rather guilty about being the cause of Karina's misfortune, even if unintentional.

"From the top again!" Chuck called out to the actors and actresses.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Words of Wisdom Scene – Take One**

"However, the heart that tries to understand the unknown, the yet unknown things that are yet unknown unknown…" Miho spoke her piece as the sea breeze blew against her hair. "Mankind's… _Naaaaa…_ "

However, she started tripping over her words partway through. At that, Chuck sat back in his director chair, threw up his hands, and declared, "CUT!"

" _Naaaa,_ what was it again…?" she asked, suitably mortified by her forgetfulness.

Erich shook his head in exasperation from behind her, crossing his arms. " _Mein Gott,_ you are the worst actress ever," he commented on Miho's acting. He brought one of his arms back up, to use to pointedly gesture with finger waving as he recited the line in question, "However, the heart that tries to understand the unknown rather than conquer it might be the more important thing. And we showed that to the Arraipe." He finished with a face that effectively said, 'there you have it.'

Miho looked with a pouty face towards Erich, pulling such a face due to his perfect recital of her script, even though she knew he hadn't gotten more than a quick glance at it. "Chuck, do you have some string and a needle?" she called out to the director, keeping eye contact with the blonde in the process. "I have to sew someone's mouth shut."

Chuck probably shouldn't have answered, but he was just so exhausted from all the shit he had to deal with to film this short movie that he just pointed and wearily said, "Stage left."

XXXXXXXXXX

The television that the St Gloriana folks were watching the film on then blacked out as it reached the end of the outtakes collection, with the screen saying such.

Among them, Darjeeling was bent over and just about choking on her own giggles. She was just laughing _that_ hard. The others around her – Assam, Orange Pekoe, Arthur, Douglas, and Dennis – were all just silently wondering if the Churchill commander was crazy.

"Why the hell is this lass enjoying this so bloody much?" Douglas asked in reference to Darjeeling's uncontrollable laughter.

Arthur looked to him with a look saying it was obvious. "Because it's Darjeeling," he reasoned.

Assam and Dennis both reinforced that reasoning by leveling a look at Douglas that dared him to argue. In the end, he came to the same understanding as the others. "Well, okay, that's true," he admitted.

Orange Pekoe was looking at the case the disc had come in, looking over what was included in the disc's contents. "We've seen the film itself…" she said to herself as she read off the list of content. "We just finished watching the outtakes… There's an audio commentary… Actually, there's two audio commentaries: one called 'military' and another called 'cast.'"

"We'll watch both…!" Darjeeling managed to utter amidst her perpetual giggling, weakly lifting a finger to illustrate her point.

"Uuuuugh…" the other five Brits groaned in unison.

XXXXXXXXXX

Over on the beach of Ooarai, it was a bright, sunny day with the relaxing sounds of the sea about the only thing one could hear.

"Making that film was an absolute blast!" Karina happily said. She and Saki were at the beach to hang out together after all the filming was done.

"Yeah…" was all the normally-quiet ninth-year said.

Karina turned to Saki, just remembering another thing she wanted to say. "Saki, you just nailed the heroine role in that!" she complemented in her typical highly energetic tone. "Just…" She waved her hands around wildly, not even being able to put it into words how awesome it was. "It was just awesome!"

"You performed well, also, Karina," Saki replied as she looked out over the ocean.

But her attention was soon captured when she thought she saw something move under the waves. She blinked once before slightly widening her gaze, perhaps in alarm, at what she was seeing. Whatever it was, it looked incredibly similar to the Arraipe that was just present in the film. It had all the same features: numerous tentacles surrounding a distinctly fleshy body.

That was what she _thought_ she saw. However, next she knew, Erich was jumping out of the water just ahead of the creature in question in nothing but his black swim trunks, laughing hilariously as he continued running while periodically looking back. Saki didn't know what was up with him, so she turned her attention back to the creature.

However, as soon as this 'creature' came up and surfaced, she understood Erich's running off. Truthfully, the 'creature' was just Miho, in her pink two-piece swimsuit, with an Arraipe mockup on top of her head. The vibrant brunette looked absolutely pissed, and with that, Saki could somewhat predict what had happened to make her such.

" _KOMM HIERHER ZURÜCK, BUBI!_ " the German _Panzerkommandeur_ screamed at the fleeing blonde to get back here. She had begun sprinting after him as soon as she left the water, not wanting to fall far behind. " _ICH WERDE DICH NACKT AN DEINEN FÜßEN AM MARINETURM AUFHÄNGEN!_ " she next screamed how she would hang him naked by his feet from the Ooarai Marine Tower.

Of course, Saki and Karina did not understand _any_ of that and simply saw a furious Miho screaming her incomprehensible rage at Erich as she chased after him, with a ridiculous Arraipe mockup on her head. Both of them found it extremely odd that, even though Miho had more or less been the real star of the film, she was next doing _this,_ whatever it was she was doing with chasing down Erich like she wanted to rip him limb from limb. The incredible silliness of the entire situation was something neither of the underclassmen would've ever expected out of the incredibly timid yet strong-willed girl and the boy that expressed himself fearlessly much to the chagrin of well-mannered people yet held an incredible sense of righteousness as well. Both Karina and Saki wondered if this was the real Miho and the real Erich, what they were like when they had no obligations. Because now, they almost seemed like children.

"That was weird," Saki commented. Karina nodded in agreement as she stared at the two Germans as if they had both grown another head. Ironically, she noted, that was almost exactly what Miho looked like with that Arraipe mockup on her head.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	148. Kapitel 27,4,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-vier: Extra Zwölf**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Der Gott des Unfugs**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Normally, a bar was where someone went to either celebrate or unwind. The flow of beer often dulled nerves enough to aid in relaxation tremendously. However, it also had the ability to make people _too_ relaxed, as was illustrated by a couple of Germans sitting at the bar counter, already hopped up on numerous beers.

" _Ich lieb' ein Mädchen  
Ich weiß nicht warum  
Mein Mädchen kaut Tabak  
Und mein Mädchen trinkt Rum_"

The drunken, German and nonsensical descendant of an old sea shanty sung just as drunkenly as expected was just too ridiculous and improper for Éclair, the _Panzerkraft Capitaine_ of Maginot. But it wasn't like she could do anything about it, because it was Erich-Dietrich Hartmann who was so drunkenly singing presently. And right next to him, and looking to be highly amused by the blonde's singing, was Alfred-Joachim Hartmann.

The two Germans were a couple seats to the French girl's left, and they were quite drunk judging by their appearances. Both sat with backs against the bar counter itself, while the blonde brother had one of his arms resting on the black-haired brother's nearest shoulder and a glass of beer in the other hand. Both had their respective school uniforms on, with Erich having the white, black, and green Ooarai uniform and Alfred having the majority gray Schwarzwaldspitze uniform.

Éclair rolled her eyes with annoyance at the two barbaric Germans' antics, completely unamused by such improper behavior. But, yet again, there was nothing she could do about it, because she knew that if she asked them to go off somewhere else, then they would simply keep on going with their drunken antics without stopping.

Though, looking around, she noticed that she was practically alone in not enjoying the drunken German singing. Most everyone else was huffing little laughs of amusement at the scene.

" _When Blackie comes down to Hilooooo,_ " Erich sung next in English, extending ' _Hilo_ ' out for a bit. " _POOR OLD MAN!_ " He bobbed his head in a heavily drunken manner with each syllable in the chorus line, leaning a little more onto Alfred during it as if he was trying to sit up.

After the line, the blonde just gave up with trying to sit up and plopped back against the bar counter. As he and his brother both began laughing their asses off, Alfred himself was giving a round of applause with his hands while Erich took another swig of beer out of his glass.

" _Komplimente,_ " Alfred gave his compliments, to which Erich briefly nodded with a glance his way in acknowledgment.

Again, Éclair rolled her eyes out of annoyance. "Ugh, Germans…" she muttered in distaste as she lightly rested her head on her hand, now bored. She left her drink to sit, having lost her desire for it.

But her attention was recaptured when a small bottle slid across the counter, coming to a stop in front of her. Raising an eyebrow in question, she lightly picked it up and examined it. "Nausea medicine?" she read in a questioning manner, wondering who knew of her unique needs.

"It's from that girl there," the bartender nonchalantly pointed out, using his thumb to point down to the end of the bar, to Éclair's right. The ebony-haired French girl glanced up at him briefly before choosing to look down to the end of the bar.

There, she found two more girls. One of them had long blonde hair and looked very drunk. The other was a girl with short black hair tied into a bow with a very obvious red ribbon. She had an air of great refinement about her, though looking into her brown eyes, Éclair saw how there was an absolute animal of a warrior underneath all that elegance.

As if to confirm, Shizuka Tsuruki grinned at the French girl upon their landing gazes with each other, not betraying a hint of weakness in her light smirk. "What an extremely bored face thou art making!" the Japanese samurai girl commented on Éclair's bored expression. "I wonder, if thou hast stumbled into the wrong era?"

Éclair's lips twitched up into a lightly amused smile at this girl's words. No doubt she was talking about the two barbaric Germans further down and how the French girl didn't seem to belong. "No, just another case of running into some natural-born enemies," she responded, knowing that girl would get the reference to French-German enmity. She pocketed the nausea medicine at the same time. "But _merci,_ I just ran out of my medicine."

"Ah, well good fortunes to you then," Shizuka replied, lifting her wine glass in a salute to the ebony-haired French girl. Even the way she held it just screamed sophisticated, with how she held it with the stem between her ring and middle fingers and her entire hand cupping it from underneath.

Conversely, the blonde by her side, Rin Matsukaze, set down her empty glass on the counter with an unceremonious slam, before bellowing out, "ANOTHER!"

A few seconds later, another slam echoed throughout the bar, but this one came from the old-fashioned split wooden doors that served as the entrance. They were kicked in, and following was Shizuka going, "Bah! Who goes there!?" in surprise as she turned to the entrance on instinct.

Erich and Alfred also looked to the entrance out of curiosity at who had just ceremoniously barged in. Most of the bar erupted into commotion at the dramatic entrance.

The dramatic newcomer strode into the bar dragging in two more girls by the scruffs of their neck. Each one, Éclair and Shizuka could recognize at a glance.

"Fondue!" the ebony-haired French girl cried in surprise at one of her subordinates being dragged in.

" _Madame_ Éclair…" the light brunette, glasses-wearing French girl just about moaned out. "Please run…"

"Asparagus!" Shizuka identified the other French girl, the blonde one wearing the distinct marshal cap.

" _Merde…_ " Asparagus cursed weakly as she and Fondue were both dragged forth. Next, both French girls were thrown forward by the newcomer as they were finally released.

"Wow…" Erich commented on the red-headed girl with pigtails, shades, and very dark brown jacket with light brown skirt, raising his eyebrows at how commanding she was. "I wonder who that is."

The red-headed girl herself had just caught sight of both Erich and Alfred, and even with her shades on it was still obvious how her eyebrows had gone up in surprise. She soon lowered them back down to compose herself. "Hartmann and Hartmann, what a surprise," she commented with a distinct German accent as she slowly sauntered forth, which had the effect of making Asparagus and Fondue flee from her and off to the sides. "Remember me?" she next asked with arms spread as a smile began to grow on her face.

Both Erich and Alfred raised an eyebrow at how this girl seemed to know them. The voice didn't sound familiar to either of them. But then again, a lot of people's voices didn't sound familiar to them here.

The red-head slowly removed her shades, revealing eyes that were the same wine red as her hair. Having finally revealed herself to them, Emi Nakasuka smiled a gleeful grin at the two Hartmanns that promised a lot of unpleasant things to them. "I'm BACK!" she declared, emphasis placed on 'back.' "And I'm here to hand you your long-awaited defeat!"

"Wait, no, absolutely not!" Shizuka stood up and intervened, all of a sudden pissed at this newcomer. "I'm the one to give them defeat!"

Emi immediately whirled on her, growing angry at this interruption. "No, I will!" she stubbornly retorted, just about ready to throw punches. "They're _mine!_ "

While the two of them had their verbal sparring going on, Éclair was escorted off to the restroom by Fondue, gripping her stomach in pain. "My stomach…" she moaned in agony.

" _Madame_ Éclair, did you forget to take your medicine again?" Fondue asked with concern as she led her Capitaine away.

Erich and Alfred looked at the scene before them, with the French girls, Emi, and Shizuka. Their eyes were wide as they both took in everything going on. At the end, all they could do was shrug, having seen weirder things, and they clanked two freshly filled glasses of beer and began drinking again.

Out of nowhere, the speakers in the bar that normally served to play music started playing a new track, but this one was not one they normally played as the distinctive drum pounding followed up by an electric guitar indicated. Erich could immediately identify it as Sabaton's 'Dream Destroyer.'

 _Annihilator!  
Breaker of this world!_

When the lyrics began, the televisions in the bar mysteriously changed to display New York City. But, this version of the city that never sleeps had utter destruction impacted upon it, Manhattan in particular.

 _Bring destruction!  
Suffering and pain_

Explosions rocked the skyscrapers on screen, with chunks repeatedly being taken out of them. Destruction rained down in Times Square, in Central Park, Hell's Kitchen, and just about every other part of Manhattan. People on screen were fleeing in mass, just trying to break away from all the chaos that had come down on their city.

 _Lord of fire!  
Satan's number one!_

On top of one of the towers, as war raged on in the skies of the city, a shimmering of green was visible as the figure began reflecting sunlight off of a golden, horned helmet atop their head. Unlike all the chaos around them, the figure looked calm, as if basking in the glory of it.

 _Death machine and plague and poison bringer_

The figure looked up to the sky with some kind of scepter in hand, which glowed an ethereal blue near the blade's end. With that, both Erich and Alfred knew exactly who this being was, which gave them cause for alarm as their eyebrows shot up. This was someone who was previously acknowledged in myths, being known by the title of World-Slayer for their pivotal role in the end of everything.

But they knew better. This person was no myth.

 _Turn out the light!_

As soon as the next line was uttered, the lights all went out, as did everything requiring electricity. That drove some people in the bar to scream in surprise. Erich and Alfred both stood up and got onto high alert, glancing around frantically to try and stay on guard.

 _I've come for vengeance!  
In the darkest night!_

Now the two Hartmanns knew, that the purpose for this song coming on was to be a voice for the intentions of who commanded it to play. With the second line, nearly all light that reached inside the bar vanished, with the windows blacking out completely and the doors as well. Even though it was night, this complete absence of even moonlight put the bar into complete darkness.

 _You'll feel my POOOOOWEEEEER-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!_

With the next line, the bar erupted in light again. The light was caused by fire, fire all around the bar. The fire itself was burning green, and it was burning strongly it appeared, as the flames grew taller than everybody in the bar.

The fire drew the people in the bar to start panicking in earnest, as many screams of terror began ensuing from the illusion that they were about to be burned alive.

Curiously enough, the fire seemed to surround Erich and Alfred. It never touched them, however. But they both knew that it was not because of anything they did. It was a deliberate action on the part of whoever cast the fire.

 _Dream destroyer!  
Gazing in the night!_

The flames lowered to the point where both Erich and Alfred could see over them. Just as they looked to the door, they caught a pair of glowing emerald green eyes in the darkness. It made them nearly jump back in fright.

 _Don't resist my nightmare!  
Taste the fire_

In response to their jump, the green flames flared up again, this time coming extremely close to the two Germans, seemingly choking off their air supply.

 _I've come for you!_

Impossibly quickly, the flames died out, and just as quickly, a spotlight shined down on Erich and Alfred, highlighting them to everyone else in the bar. By this point, the others in the bar had also begun to understand the words in the song, and this shining spotlight on the Hartmanns made it clear that whoever played it was here for them.

 _I'm here for vengeance!  
In the dash of light!_

Both Erich and Alfred were still trying to look around to see if they could find the source of all this. But with the second line, the lights blinked out again, bringing the bar back to complete darkness.

 _You'll feel my POOOOOWEEEEER!_

With the line, a stream of green shimmering light flowed throughout the bar like a ribbon caught in the wind. It flew through the air as if it had a mind of its own. At the same time, both of the Hartmanns felt something pulling on their minds, and the two began to try and hold against the pull.

 _Hide  
From my lies_

The pull on them increased in response to their holding. It forced their faces to both screw up in strain.

 _I can see  
Into your eyes_

As the pull on them continued, a pair of glowing emerald green eyes flashed before them, and they nearly jumped at it.

 _God  
Appeared_

Out of the corner of their eyes, they both caught a shimmer of green light, and instinctively looked towards it.

 _You don't know  
'Cause no one's there_

Just as quickly as it was, the light was gone, leaving the two Germans with their minds reeling from all the illusions. They could've sworn they saw something, but there was nothing there. All these illusions were taking their toll on them.

 _Hide  
From my lies_

As if in response to their paranoia, the pull on the two of them became impossibly harder. In response to that, they could feel their own illusions being forcibly pulled away from them. They could not hide from the liar anymore, and their eyes screwed shut as the pain from trying to hold against an impossibly strong pull became enormous.

 _I can see  
Into your eyes_

Both Hartmanns began to have light shimmer around them, Alfred having orange light around him and Erich having white light around him. Their appearances both faded away with the shimmering and left them in their true forms. Their hair was revealed to be longer, to the shoulders. Their bodies were revealed to have more feminine curves to them, with the distinctive hips and cleavage, the smaller and smoother hands, and the softer faces.

There were some oddities with them that normally shouldn't appear on humans, but was actually normal for the two of them. They both had a single lock of hair in front of each ear, which had the tips fade into a color different from the hair itself, with the black-haired one having cream white tips and the blonde one having jet black tips. Also, both had small tails emerging from the smalls of their backs, identifiable as tails from a dachshund, with the black-haired one's being cream white and the blonde's being jet black.

Of course, both still looked nearly identical to each other, with only hair and eye color differentiating them. But now their true, and feminine, forms were forcibly put on display to the rest of the bar. In these forms, the two were known as Isabel-Justina Hartmann and Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann. Their uniforms had also shifted to the girls' uniforms for their respective schools.

"Huh, so _that's_ why they didn't recognize me," Emi muttered as she observed from the side. "They weren't Erich and Alfred, after all."

 _God  
Appeared_

For the two girls that just experienced their glamours being forcibly ripped off of them, they both witnessed the one responsible flashing before their eyes. They both screamed in surprise as they jumped back from the illusion.

 _You don't know  
'Cause no one's there_

The two Hartmann _sisters,_ as they were revealed to be now, looked utterly terrified. Both of them knew who was behind all of these illusions, and while they were loathe to admit it, those illusions left them terrified, as that was only a mere speck of the power of the one responsible for them.

 _Running 'round in circles  
There's no escape from me_

A green shimmering light began making circles around both Isabel and Erika, spinning around the two at incredible speed, making it appear as if there was a ring of flowing light around them. But they knew different, for this was pure energy that was streaming around them, and they did their best to avoid it, because one touch and they would both be in for a world of hurt. There was, truthfully, no escape for them. And the responsible sorcerer knew this.

 _I'm the last one of my kind  
Now there is no stopping me_

The circling ribbon of energy around the two girls began giving them dizziness and nausea, and they both fell to their knees and hands. They should've known that they would be targeted by this guy. But they were just caught unaware, and now were likely to suffer his vengeance.

Vengeance for that encounter many years ago. The two girls last saw _that_ face, with that unmistakably mischievous smirk, flash before them before they fell into a flashback to the first time they saw that face.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I said…" _he_ repeated himself to the crowd before rapping his scepter against the ground once. The scepter, and the scepters belonging to the numerous clones of himself which surrounded the crowd, all glowed an ethereal blue. And, finally, with a voice boosted in volume and made to sound like it came from every direction with his own magic, he commanded everyone in the crowd, " _KNEEL!_ "

The crowd of at least two-hundred, unnerved and fearful of this man, hesitantly acquiesced and slowly made their way down to their knees one by one within _Schloßplatz Stuttgart._ With everyone kneeled, four children together in the crowd – two of them being a younger Erika and Isabel, and the other two being friends of theirs known as Manfred Nishizumi and Michael Nishizumi, none of which were more than nine years old – were able to finally get a good look at the man that had so dramatically crashed the high-class party their parents had dragged them to.

All four of them were already terrified by him, but being able to put a face to him made it even worse, arguably. He wore some attire that looked just out of this world, which they wondered how he managed to change into so quick, as he had been wearing a suit just a minute before. Much of what he now wore was black leather with green accents. Over that was a light set of golden armor, highlighted by a golden helmet that would've looked silly to Erika had it not been on this man's head. The helmet looked like it had goat's horns to her. The man also had a green cape adorning him, and wielded a long scepter that was nearly as tall as he was. The scepter itself was golden and had a curved blade at the end of it, which had a blue stone of sorts just beneath it that sometimes glowed, with another even smaller blade just below that.

Speaking of his height, he was tall, quite tall. If Isabel had to guess, she would say he was maybe 185 to 190 cm tall. He was tall, but lean in body build. However, the way he held himself, always in a proper posture and so confident, made it clear he was definitely strong physically despite that lean appearance. He also had long, raven black hair that reached his shoulders, and even started to curl up at the ends. His eyes were an unnatural blue that just didn't quite seem to belong on his pale and sharp face, like they were the wrong color or something.

And then there was that wicked smirk. That smirk that promised pure mischief. When everyone had kneeled as commanded, _he_ grew that wicked smirk on his face, spreading his arms in glee as he beheld the people obeying him.

"Is not this… _simpler?_ " he began, slowly walking through the kneeling crowd.

Erika, Isabel, Manfred, and Michael all felt a very weird sensation in their heads when they heard him talk, because whoever this guy was, he was clearly from somewhere not here. While he spoke, all four of them were hearing him in both English _and_ German, simultaneously, as if he were speaking in both languages at the same time. They all imagined it was the same way for the rest of the crowd, at least if they spoke more than one language.

And then there was the voice itself. It was a svelte voice that was incredibly refined. At first, Erika guessed the accent might be British just due to its refinement, but hearing him again, there was also Scandinavian present in there. The highly proper manner in which he spoke suggested he was royalty. And also, he was clearly a master wordsmith judging by how convincing he made his words sound, how he seemed easily capable of making anyone believe his words.

"Is this not your natural state?" _he_ continued as he kept slowly walking through the kneeling crowd. "It is the unspoken truth of humanity, that you _crave_ subjugation." His free hand clenched into a fist to emphasize the craving part.

Erika, Isabel, Manfred, and Michael all looked to him as he spoke, with none of them particularly agreeing but none willing to say otherwise either. _He_ was the one in control, and they dared not test him.

"The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power…" the man continued his speech, still gently walking through the submissive crowd. "For identity…" He waved a hand out to gesture to the entirety of the crowd to emphasize his next statement, which came in a gentle voice, as if he was convincing everyone that it was fact. "You were _made_ to be ruled."

Erika furrowed her eyebrows, already rejecting his words. She had already begun learning about her country's history in regard to future rulers making great promises. Though charming, Erika couldn't help but make parallels between this man, and Adolf Hitler. The words may have been different, but the charming way in which they were said was ever the same. And that was why she refused to accept his words.

"In the end…" _he_ continued in that soft-spoken, svelte voice, now with his hand lowered and with that smirk on his face. "… you will always kneel."

Finally, Erika had had enough of this man's belittling, and began to stand up. Isabel, Manfred, and Michael all grew alarmed at this. "Erika, get back down!" her older sister hissed at the blonde, protesting due to a great possibility she would die from her disobedience. They had all seen how he had slammed _Doktor_ Schäfer, the party host, onto the centerpiece inside the building and mashed that tool into his eye, holding him there even as he spasmed from all the pain. And the guy _smiled_ when he heard the screams. The good _Doktor_ ended up dying because of that tool digging into his eye and making him lose too much blood, and the murderer responsible did not even look as if he cared.

But the younger blonde did not listen, and stood up anyway. She and _he_ locked gazes with each other, and Erika saw how _he_ had clearly not expected this defiance from a mere child, of all people, if his slightly surprised facial expression said anything. He stopped walking through the crowd, as well.

With her little fists clenched, she bravely spoke out, her childish voice reaching everyone's ears, "Not to men like you."

 _He_ smiled at her with his perfect teeth showing, nearly laughing but remembering to maintain composure. "Dear child…" he shook his head as he retorted with a gentle tone, one fit for talking to a child. "There are no men like me."

Erika didn't like how she was being talked to as if she was a child, even though she was one. She didn't want to be talked to in a condescending manner. "Then what kind of man are you?" she asked in return. "Right now, all I can see is a mad tyrant speaking nonsense. And _we,_ " she spread out her arms to gesture to the crowd as a whole, "are _very_ familiar with mad tyrants speaking nonsense."

Lowering her arms, Erika continued on with her speech, finding the words just spill out of her on demand. "Adolf Hitler… had led us to pain and suffering in the past, with those great promises of a greater future that he couldn't fulfill in any possible way, and making us kill our own people out of some ridiculous belief of superiority and inferiority. He _destroyed_ us." The blonde little girl fixed the much taller man with a hard glare, lifting her little chin up in defiance. "And I fail to see how you will be any different from that monster."

 _He_ chuckled at her while formulating a response. He would not let himself be outdone by a mere child, which was why he didn't just kill her immediately. This girl was stubborn, and full of heart, which both annoyed and impressed him. The 'monster' insult ticked him off, but he concealed it from his actions. "My dear…" he spoke in that gentle, soothing voice of his. "I am disappointed and honestly _hurt_ that you think of me in such a way." He clenched his chest with his free hand to emphasize the hurt aspect.

Bringing his hand back down, he continued with a convincing smile on his face, "How could I _possibly_ wish to annihilate the entirety of humanity, when it is blessed with people as strong as yourself?" He gestured to her with his free hand. Bringing it back down, he continued. "I do not wish to annihilate humanity, but to _push,_ " he pushed the air with his free hand to emphasize, "humanity even farther than they would otherwise be capable."

"However…" he continued, still keeping eye contact with Erika. "That can only be accomplished by making this world free."

"Free from what?" the little girl asked, quirking an eyebrow up skeptically.

"Freedom," he answered, lifting his chin up in confidence. He spread his arms out again. "Freedom… is life's great lie. You are not truly free to become your best if you are burdened with _choice._ " Lowering his arms again, he continued further. "It is my glorious purpose to achieve this freedom from freedom for humanity, to take humanity farther than you can possibly comprehend…" He rapped his scepter on the ground once. "… to be your king, your god."

Erika pressed her lips together in detestation for this man's spun fantasies. "And just who _is_ the would-be king?" she asked, not forgetting to throw a barb at him with the 'would-be king' insult.

 _He_ smiled at her again with his teeth, not seeming affected at all by her barb. "My dear, I thought you would never ask," he said before drawing himself up in posture, looking every bit the imposing king and god he vowed to be. He magically increased his voice's volume to make it loud enough for the entire plaza to hear with clarity, "I am Loki, of Asgard, my little Erika."

The entire crowd gasped in surprise. Hearing him say he was the very same god out of the old Norse myths was a massive shocker for everyone, including for Erika, Isabel, Manfred, and Michael. It was mostly because the claim did match up, for he had demonstrated himself capable of otherworldly feats that no human could ever replicate.

But also, it was for how he knew Erika's name. Loki internally snickered at how shocked Erika and all her little friends were that he knew her name. Really, it wasn't that hard, considering that little black-haired girl that looked just like her had said it in his presence. Even though she had whispered it, Loki's hearing was good enough to still catch it.

But the God of Mischief decided to go ahead and wrap things up. He'd already gotten what he came for. "My dear Erika," he got the girl's attention once more. He spread his arms out again, showing he meant no ill intentions. "Do you wish for a better world, one where humanity can be at its greatest potential? Do you wish for a world in which everyone was free from the horrors of war? Do you wish for a world that held everlasting peace? Do you wish for a world that can be just as powerful, and as perfect, as Asgard? If so…" He offered his hand out to her in a peaceful gesture. "… then come to me. I can make _all_ of your wishes come true."

For a brief moment, Erika had actually considered Loki's offer. It sounded… well, like a utopia. He was just so convincing and had clearly demonstrated he can do all he had promised. He made it sound like he was bringing Heaven down to Earth.

But her logical side opposed. That side of her was saying that he was but words and had clearly shown he was perfectly willing to kill without hesitation if it meant he got what he wanted. Not to mention he was a known trickster judging by the myths, one who was not to be trusted.

So, with her choice made, she answered with conviction, " _Never,_ you puny god!"

The entire crowd held their breath as they watched Loki's response. Outside, he hadn't changed his face all that much, but on the inside he was _fuming_ at her latest barb. ' _How_ _ **dare**_ _that mewling quim call me a puny god!_ ' he thought with rage.

"Well, that is most _unfortunate,_ " Loki responded, still with a smile on his face. He tilted up his chin and lifted his scepter. In a louder voice to the crowd, he said, "Look to this objector to peace, everyone."

The stone at the head of the scepter began to glow an ethereal blue again as it was leveled directly at Erika. It began humming as energy was built up, the stone glowing a brighter blue simultaneously.

"Let her be an example," the god decreed as the energy in the scepter reached its maximum, its unleashing imminent. All four of the children's eyes widened in fear at what was about to happen.

" _NEIN!_ " Isabel cried in desperation, automatically and instinctively rushing up to try and save her little sister from death. But she had no time to push her out of the way.

Erika could not find it in her to move. Whatever it was, that scepter was just otherworldly, and she had actually felt compelled to stay where she was when it was leveled at her nearly bursting with energy. Upon Loki's scepter unleashing its built-up energy towards her, Erika found her life flashing before her eyes, as short as it was.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Annihilator!  
Breaker of this world!_

Finally, Erika and Isabel came back to consciousness after that flashback that was forced upon them. They returned back to the present day inside the bar, where people were still screaming in panic at all the otherworldly illusions being cast.

 _Bring destruction!  
Suffering and pain_

Chairs and tables soon started flying through the bar, and both Erika and Isabel could sense that these actions _weren't_ illusions like the other actions, but simple telekinesis. While none of the objects came to harm anyone, their smashing against the floor, walls, and ceiling brought even more destruction into the bar, which further drove up the panic.

 _Lord of fire!  
Satan's number one!_

Green balls of fire started flying throughout the bar, too. Mostly, they simply spawned and hurled themselves across the room, but that wasn't all. An illusion of a flaming devil also spawned, and this too threw balls of green fire at everything.

 _Death machine and plague and poison bringer_

Erika and Isabel's stomachs both churned again as several streams of green energy flew around them again. It was nauseating being so close to such high energy. Well, that and the reminder of who they were facing.

 _Turn out the light!_

At the next line of the song, everything stopped and all the illusions smoked out of existence, bringing darkness back to the bar.

 _I've come for vengeance!  
In the dead of night!_

Still reeling from the magic that was forced on them earlier, Erika and Isabel both shakily stood up onto their feet again, taking advantage of the reprieve in the onslaught of illusions and mind trickery.

 _You'll feel my POOOOOWEEEEER!_

Out of the darkness, daggers made of ice came flying at the two German girls with no warning. With gasps of surprise, the two girls both sidestepped away from each other and out of the ice daggers' path.

 _Hide  
From my lies_

A light shined down on the two girls at the beginning of the two lines.

 _I can see  
Into your eyes_

With the next pair of lines, several pairs of green eyes flashed out of the darkness, making the girls jump back with a scream.

 _God  
Appeared_

Shimmering into existence all around the two girls were bodies, their outline resembling the sorcerer who cast them, coated in the unique green magic signature of the wielder.

 _You don't know  
'Cause no one's there_

As quickly as they appeared, they blinked out of existence, driving the girls to the brink of insanity with the overwhelming amount of illusions.

 _Hide  
From my lies _

Both Erika and Isabel slowly got to their knees again with the resurgence of the green fire around them, surrounding them like a ring. They both began holding onto each other, trembling in fear.

 _I can see  
Into your eyes_

They both knew they were screwed, as the Liesmith, Silvertongue, the Dark Prince, the Would-Be King, the Asgardian Hitler, the Realm Walker, had finally come for them, and they knew he could see the fear of him in both their sets of blue and dark brown eyes respectively.

 _God  
Appeared _

The flames quickly ceased, and replacing them was a single set of glowing eyes before them. Only, this time, the eyes were a vibrant red in color.

 _You don't know  
'Cause no one's there_

Both girls jumped back again, or at least tried to as they were still on their knees, but they were still utterly terrified out of their minds of the sorcerer who'd been tormenting them so. And yet, they knew they couldn't escape it, so they didn't bother making any moves, just sitting there on their knees, hugging each other, and shaking in fear.

As if finally having mercy on them, the responsible sorcerer began shimmering into existence while he slowly walked towards the two girls from their front. Unlike when they first encountered each other, he did not wear any of his golden armor and just wore his leathers. And he no longer had his scepter, either, but that didn't make him anywhere close to harmless.

As soon as he got close enough, the raven-haired sorcerer grabbed the two girls by their shirts, lifting them up to his level, which due to his tall height had the effect of lifting them both off the ground completely.

Erika and Isabel hesitantly looked up, and found a pair of emerald green eyes glaring at them with a murderous expression. "Loki…" both of them barely managed to whisper, afraid to utter any more than that.

Loki was right in their faces, and he was _not_ happy with the two Hartmann girls. "You two _children…_ " he sneered the derogatory term in such a voice that expressed just how angry he was with them, "… are coming with me."

Again, the two Hartmann girls got that weird feeling in their heads whenever he spoke to them, hearing him speak in English _and_ German at the same time. In addition to what they heard in English, they also heard simultaneously, " _Ihr zwei_ _ **Kinder…**_ _seid mit mir kommen._ "

But before they could explain themselves, Loki called upon his magic to pull them all back to their dimension, generating a wormhole in their exact location that sucked them all out of the bar just as the song ended. Said wormhole stayed open for only as long as it took to transport the three back, collapsing harmlessly, oddly enough, only a split-second after generating.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Loki:_ KNEEL, YOU MEWLING QUIMS! YOU PUNY MORTALS ARE ALL BENEATH ME!

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author does not claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music used belongs to**_ **Sabaton,** _ **excluding "When Johnny Comes Down to Hilo," which is an old American sea shanty. Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **And, most importantly, the author does not own me. I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with the glorious purpose of acting as myself in this wondrous little tale.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_

 _ **Also, the author regrets nothing. I believe that is in reference to me, which is good. The author's conviction is solid.**_


	149. Kapitel 27,4,3

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-vier: Extra Zwölf**_

 _ **Kapitel Drei: Vorschau – Eine starke Wehrmacht**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Around his _Panzer_ IV H, Manfred Nishizumi distinctly felt five explosions rock the ground around him in quick succession. No doubt there were more than that, but that was the amount he felt directly. Following was the roar of aviation engines above, and it was simple enough for him to deduce what just happened: an air raid. It was still extremely early into the battle, but, catching sight of the Iron Cross markings on the underside of the wings of the Bf 109Gs and Fw 190Ds that had performed the attack, he wasn't exactly surprised.

The deafening boom of cannons rung out simultaneously, five times in quick succession. They had come after the ground erupted from the impacts of tank shells. That, Manfred knew, was the opening attack of the _Panthers,_ coming from the tree line. They had always been more suited to the thrill of mobile warfare, perhaps being one of the best at it with the tank's great all-around abilities that did not sacrifice speed in the slightest.

Five more deep bellows of cannon fire rung out, one after the other in quick succession. The vibrant brunette did not even need to look to classify those as belonging to _Panthers_ as well as _Jagdpanzer_ IV/70s. Again, this was just the typical opening attack of Ooarai's latest foe, so he wasn't exactly surprised by it. It was kind of their thing, this enemy, to strike hard and fast when least expected. And, for the most part, Ooarai's forces did _not_ expect it.

Three more booms echoed, one after another, from cannon fire, as Manfred was able to discern. However, these were notably deeper, which made it easier to place their identity, but the identity was not at all comforting. The deeper cannon fire had come from larger-caliber German cannons, as was commonly used in their heavy tanks and tank destroyers. But the specific foe that Manfred knew was likely to give the most trouble for him out of all of them was _Tiger_ number _212._

Because this was the _Kapitän_ of the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerabteilung_ he was up against here. Manfred was smart to fear his brother Michael, for he was an extremely accomplished tanker, commonly called the best in the world. As for the foe in their entirety, the might of Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerabteilung, Jagdgeschwader,_ and other supporting groups, could only be described as being just as fierce and intimidating as the _Wehrmacht._

And what an intimidating force it was as the _Panzerabteilung_ came out of the trees to pursue Ooarai's motley of tanks. Numerous _Panthers, Jagdpanzer_ IV/70s, and many other powerful German tanks and tank destroyers. A _Jagdpanther,_ an _Elefant,_ a _Jagdtiger,_ a couple of _Tiger_ IIs, and of course that _Tiger_ number _212._

It was no different up in the air. When Ooarai's _Jagdstaffel_ began counterattacking, most of their pilots could only gape at the highly organized, versatile, and capable _Jagdgeschwader_ of Schwarzwaldspitze. All those late Bf 109Gs, those Fw 190Ds, that Ta 152, those few Me 262s, but perhaps most terrifying of them all, was that Bf 109 G-6 with the black tulip nose.

By now, all of Ooarai was aware of who piloted that _Messer._ And really, it was almost impossible not to know of the girl often referred to as the number one fighter pilot in the world: Isabel-Justina Hartmann, the Black Demoness.

The black-haired ultra-ace kept her distance from all the fighting presently. Though it was for a tactical benefit to stay aware of surroundings and be able to respond quickly to unforeseen attacks, underneath that reason was how she so desperately wanted a one-on-one fight with her younger sister. And she would never get that if everyone else was still in the fight.

Erika took note of how her older sister had hung back, and she correctly assumed it was to retain a tactical advantage. It gave her reprieve from the prospect of having to face her immediately. Although the two would, inevitably, face off with each other at some point, she was relieved to know that would be postponed until later.

Though neither of them were able to admit such publicly, in private, both were terrified of encountering one another. It had been just about a full year, to the day, that they had last interacted with each other directly. And neither were all that optimistic about the reception they would be given, thanks to the circumstances under which they last spoke.

 _Pulled into war  
To serve a vision that's supposed to last for all their years_

" _Hören Sie, Hartmann,_ " Schwarzwaldspitze _Schulratspräsident_ Bruno Novat spoke with Isabel in his personal quarters at the _Schulratszentrale,_ or Student Council Center, commonly called _der Bunker_ due to how compact the facility was and the bunker-like environment it alluded to. " _Dieser Bürgerkrieg hat uns geschadet, ja._ " The Austro-Bavarian nodded as he said yes. " _Jedoch…_ " He paused for a bit to analyze Isabel before continuing. " _Wir werden wieder auferstehen. Unser Platz in der Sonne wird unser bleiben._ "

Isabel wasn't really sure why he was saying all this to her, all this about how, yes, the very brief-yet-chaotic Schwarzwaldspitze Civil War may have damaged the school's people. But he assured her that they, together, would rise again, that their place in the sun would remain theirs.

But what the black-haired ultra-ace _did_ know, was that she would give her very best to propel her school into the spotlight, as an unstoppable powerhouse of elite warriors. " _Ja, Herr Präsident,_ " she nodded her confirmation and promise of service to him.

 _Part of a machine  
Unstoppable, as merciless as tidal waves!_

The basis for rebuilding the powerhouse of elite soldiers and warriors was that of bringing everyone back on the same side. Fortunately for Isabel, the _Jagdgeschwader_ had learned this lesson themselves during the Civil War, an event they would prefer to forget now, if they had to be honest.

The _Panzerabteilung_ had always been united together for the most part, so no such work was needed on Michael's part, either. They were a well-oiled machine, and now with a stable _Jagdgeschwader,_ Schwarzwaldspitze easily gained back its reputation of being an absolutely merciless and irresistible force.

No matter what happened now, rest assured that Schwarzwaldspitze's Arts of Warfare groups were all under the same flag. They would be _unstoppable._

 _Were they the victims of their time?  
Or proud parts of larger goals?_

Just because they were all under the same flag now did not strictly mean everything about the Civil War had vanished. It was simply swept under the rug. Some didn't feel as if they were welcomed due to reasons dating back to the war. Helmine Bimmel, formerly the crew chief for Erika's Bf 109G, was now in a position to pilot an Fw 190D, but she did not necessarily feel like she was all that liked by everyone due to her association with Erika.

Another was Karl Ackerschmidt, a good friend of Manfred and, by association, Erika. Now commanding a _Panther,_ he was not terribly comfortable with the role despite knowing he was better suited for it than the other possibilities. He could feel the tension towards him when speaking with a few people.

But then there were those that were all-in on the goal of reclaiming Schwarzwaldspitze's place in the sun. Erik Ignatz, the new _Stellvertreter,_ or second in command, of the _Panzerabteilung,_ always wished to bring glory to Schwarzwaldspitze and to Germany as a whole by ruthlessly conquering all foes that stood in their way.

And then there was Hanna Jochen. Despite having been burned in the past – literally, and the burnt scar down the left side of her face was lasting proof of that – she came out of it even stronger than before. While she was still an extremely self-assured and very confident person, she wasn't quite as narcissistic and self-serving as before. She still desired to be better than everyone else, but nowadays that came second to following Isabel's orders. Isabel herself was happy she didn't have to regret making Hanna her _Oberleutnant,_ her second in command.

 _Propaganda from council  
Masterful machine_

Schwarzwaldspitze's reporters and media had not published anything regarding the Civil War, namely because they were too busy trying to stay alive and well, leaving them with no time to report on the war. Not like they really _wanted_ to report on it, either, because it would've given a horrid image of the school.

However, when they tried to push out one little piece debating who was responsible for causing it, they were immediately smacked down by _Präsident_ Novat. The piece itself blamed Erika for causing it with her departure, which technically was true, but everyone involved in the war knew that, while she may have been the catalyst, it was the _Sicherheit,_ the security division, called the _SH_ for shorthand reference, that had escalated it to the point of war. Those with good insight saw how they didn't much like how Erika had usurped their place and become the one the _Präsident_ favored most. As punishment for their role, Bruno had the _Sicherheitsführer_ clean all the toilets in _der Bunker._

But a hidden motive for that was how Bruno did not wish to allow a bad image of Erika to form in everyone's mind. He adored her while she was there, and the least he could do, he felt, was to honor her memory. So that little piece was rejected as soon as it was shown to the _Öffentlichkeitsamt,_ the PR office.

But the issue with censoring the school media fell away when they had Schwarzwaldspitze's victories to start reporting on. When those reports started being published, Schwarzwaldspitze's Arts of Warfare program regained its image of being a machine, being absolutely unstoppable and full of master warriors.

 _Time and again  
The battle rages on  
Beyond the gates of misery_

Schwarzwaldspitze's forces always fought their best in each battle, and refused to put forth any less of an effort. It was a matter of principle that everyone provide their best each battle, to perform their duty. Those in the Arts of Warfare program were very much duty-minded. They took their duties seriously.

But with each successive battle, Isabel could feel herself getting colder and colder. It felt extremely empty without her sister there, and though she did her best to not let that affect her abilities, she had begun losing herself. She had started withdrawing, isolating herself. She did not have any true friends outside of Michael, and even that contact was starting to get cut off.

Already, the dark brunette was familiar with the ultra-ace jolting awake screaming in the middle of the night due to whatever nightmare her head had played for her regarding Erika. Some nights it was her committing suicide in despair, others it was her coming back to kill Isabel in revenge, and everything in between was there as well. That haunted look in her eyes became a fairly common sight to Michael.

 _As casualties rise!  
And millions fall around them!  
Did they see it all?_

Though Michael also suspected the reason for the emptiness in Isabel's eyes was in part due to their past battles finally coming back to her in an unpleasant way. During the Civil War, she had taken up arms herself, along with the rest of the _Jagdgeschwader,_ to defend the airfield. She had the task of making sure the chaos couldn't find its way off the _Graf Zeppelin_ via the skies. And, though it was a success in the end, she was not left undamaged mentally.

The fact that she was responsible for so much pain and suffering against her fellow schoolmates, even if for a greater good, shook her. She remembered in particular the few _SH_ officers she had previously worked with on a daily basis now becoming enemies she had to put down. Those fights were personal. The entire _SH_ had been pulled onto the side that fought to eradicate and punish those who had supported Erika in response to her fleeing, though their original cause, Isabel knew, was the jealousy a number of the higher members had felt to the blonde. Now they could take advantage with this supposed betrayal by her. Isabel had fallen onto the side that did not wish such and instead fought to clear her name from being used as the scapegoat for the defeat against Pravda, which the rest of the _Jagdgeschwader_ fell into out of convenience and Michael had roped the _Panzerabteilung_ into as well.

However, it was after a massive bout of indecision when she finally decided, one that had been at the behest of _Präsident_ Novat. As usual, he had gone on a huge tirade about the whole situation with the _SH_ failing to bring Erika to him for fair justice, ending in declaring everything hopelessly lost. He refused to allow anyone in his presence to start a war or get involved in fighting with each other, because he did not wish to sully her name further through escalation. Of course, the problem with that was that a war had already started to begin behind the scenes, with no way to stop it. Isabel was conflicted on whether or not to join the fight, and if so, then what side to join. She was unaware that Erika had decided to permanently flee by this time, so she was still ticked off with her a bit.

 _Crazy warriors on a leash  
Or young kids who lost their way?_

That Civil War was when Schwarzwaldspitze's warriors had collectively lost their minds. It was their downfall, and it was a very, very long ways they had fallen. When it finally ended after all sides finally came to a mutual agreement to end it, nobody was willing to bring it up again. Since the war ended, nobody has outright spoken about it. But it still rang fresh in their minds. And many people honestly wished to forget it even happened, because it was most assuredly the weakest moment in the school's history.

Honestly, even after it had passed, Isabel still wasn't sure to consider herself a victim of it or a willing aggressor, a warrior with nothing to hold her back. She just couldn't help but consider herself a monster for what she had done, because when she deeply thought about it, all of this could've been avoided had she not treated Erika with such nastiness. Who was she, really? That was the question she asked herself every day. Was she just a youngster who had lost her way, or was she an unhinged warrioress who needed to be leashed before she destroyed everything?

 _Grand illusions given flight  
May seem real at times_

" _Wenn wir dieses Jahr gewinnen, dann verspreche ich sie davon nicht für jedermanns persönlichen Namen, nicht für jedermanns persönlichen Ruhm…_ " _Präsident_ Novat spoke within _der Bunker's_ main meeting room. Everyone normally present for these meetings was standing around the table, silent as they listened to him. The black-haired, shorter-than-average young man looked up to everyone before him as he briefly paused his speech, to emphasize his next words. " _Es ist für die Geschichte!_ "

Isabel and Michael were present, as were their seconds Hanna and Erik. They all understood that, were they to win this year as expected, then Bruno had sworn to them all not to allow the victory to be used for personal fame. Rather, he would see it written into history, to create a permanent reminder of Schwarzwaldspitze's supremacy.

Though he wanted it to be true, Michael knew it would be a long road until that was accomplished. He looked at it with a realistic outlook, knowing that they were still too tense and divided to accomplish that goal as they were. Such an objective was but an elusive dream now.

But many people, including Isabel, were all for bringing Schwarzwaldspitze back into the sun despite any possible limitations to achieving such. For the black-haired ultra-ace, she saw it as a possible way to achieve redemption with her sister. If she could win yet be humble about it, she felt she could convince Erika she had fixed her past mistakes.

 _(Panzers on a line!  
Form Black Forest's spine!  
Lethal grand design!)_

In the present day, the line of Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzers_ stood together in a stand-off against the motley collection of tanks Ooarai had perched on the hilltop before them. It felt like a contest to see who would blink first, in a sense. The tension in the air was so great that not even a knife could cut it. The knife would've broken first due to how rock-solid the tension was.

Yet, in the air, it was practically the opposite. Ooarai was fighting Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ with all they had, not holding back any part of them. Aerial engagements were occurring constantly, without falter, as the Ooarai _Jagdstaffel_ bitterly fought back against the Germans, even though they themselves were being pushed right up against the wall. The air battles were mainly taking place at lower altitudes and practically directly above the tank battle, a deliberate move on Erika's part to intercept any attempts at air raids. However, also smart on her part of manipulating the situation to her advantage, she kept the fighting just high enough to remain out of reach of Schwarzwaldspitze's _Flak-Abteilung._

 _What about the ones executing ordeeeeers? (Panzers on a line!  
Form Black Forest's spine!  
Lethal grand design!)_

" _Feuer!_ " Michael commanded without any drama or flare whatsoever. He had a no-nonsense style of commanding, giving orders as concisely as possible and nothing more.

As commanded, the Schwarzwaldspitze _Panzerabteilung_ all fired just about simultaneously at the Ooarai tanks. Such coordinated fire control was only possible with the archetypal German discipline inherent to each student of Schwarzwaldspitze.

As the Germans began scaling the hill to encircle the Ooarai tanks, the air war was still developing. Ooarai's _Jagdstaffel_ had collectively forced Isabel to hold back her own forces a bit, as their numerical advantage was dropping slowly but surely. Hanna protested to going on the defensive, to which Isabel nearly heaved a long-suffering sigh. Though the blonde had not sounded like a child this time as she did whenever she protested last year, it was still obvious that holding back was something she didn't want to do. " _Sei nicht so unvorsichtig, dass du denkst, dass du kannst sie alle alleine besiegen,_ " she calmly reprimanded the scarred blonde to not be so careless as to believe she could defeat the enemy all by herself.

 _What about the ones executing ordeeeeers!?_

Hanna growled under her breath at Isabel's rebuke, but made no effort to retaliate. The reasoning behind her dislike of the _Geschwaderkommodore's_ order was that she herself wanted to push Erika as much as possible, to get her to fight them at her best. Because she wanted to be able to beat her at her best, something she was never convinced she had managed to do. She had a huge rivalry with Erika over the past several years that saw them going off and having one-on-one fights every practice, and they were at a dead heat in victories. Hanna wanted to swing the tally in her favor, so it was no surprise she wanted to go after Erika.

But that would have to wait until later, as she was not one to disobey orders nowadays. So she reluctantly eased her attacks, breaking off after her latest pass.

Yet, despite the more common instances of her sucking it up and following orders, Hanna did have a few times over this season where she had spoken out. One such time was back when the Arts of Warfare program was still out in Egypt, for their semifinal fight against St Gloriana. It was… well, no word could describe it better than 'weird,' because at the time, Isabel had actually ordered her to do this.

" _Fein!_ " Bruno said to end another meeting, ending with letting his arm fall to the table, the resultant smack echoing content. " _Ihr alle gehen und entspannen. Das ist ein Befehl._ "

Hanna, who was the temporary leader of the _Jagdgeschwader_ – since Isabel and Michael were away spectating the Ooarai-Pravda fight – just didn't see the logic in giving relaxation time based on what the black-haired ultra-ace had told her prior to then. She wanted to airlift as much of the _Panzerabteilung_ to Berlin as quickly as possible, as she had heard rumors among some of the sport officials that the anticipated Pravda-Schwarzwaldspitze final was to be held in the city of Berlin. So Isabel wanted them to get there as quickly as possible to blunt a Pravda opening attack. And, with the ridiculous budget the German school had, that meant they had an entire fleet of cargo planes at their disposal.

" _Aber, Herr Präsident, die Luftbrücke ist bereits nach Berlin unterwegs!_ " Hanna objected to Bruno, lightly smacking her hand on the table partway through in emphasis, that the airlift to Berlin was already underway. Isabel had given the order to begin it, not seriously believing Ooarai would win against Pravda.

But that was the wrong thing to say as Bruno's face twisted with fury. " _DANN SOLL DIE FLUGZEUGE EBEN KEHRTMACHEN!_ " he passionately retorted, heavily smacking the table once as he did, that the planes should turn around then.

" _Dann entblößen wir die Hauptstadt!_ " Hanna tried to convince him of her reasoning that such a contradicting order would expose the capital to an attack from the Russians should Pravda win, as was heavily predicted.

" _Haben Sie noch ZWEIFEL AN MEINEM BEFEHL!?_ " Bruno shook his head in disbelief at the ridiculousness before wildly flinging his hands before him in frustration as he launched into a rant. " _ICH_ _ **GLAUBE,**_ " he brought a hand down to the table, not to smack it, but to illustrate his coming point as he looked up at Hanna directly, " _ICH HABE MICH KLAR GENUG AUSGEDRÜCKT!_ " He aggressively brought his fist down twice more, not hitting the table but clearly not far from doing such, and finally ended with letting out all the explosive anger with an erratic shaking of his head and fist, ceasing at the end of his speech.

Paying heed to the tirade, Hanna backed off and didn't speak up again. She did still have doubts with his orders, as Bruno had said. But he had then gone on to rant about how he thought he had expressed himself clearly. And that was when the blonde Me 262 pilot decided to just stay quiet. She never understood the _Präsident's_ fascination with Erika, especially not now when he seemed to be just _convinced_ that Ooarai would somehow defeat Pravda, making the quick deployment to Berlin unnecessary.

In the end, he was right, but it wasn't as if Hanna would ever acknowledge it. With Ooarai's victory over Pravda, the higher powers-that-be decided to switch the location of the final match to the area around Remagen, Germany, in the Rheinland.

In the present day, the match had developed into Ooarai's _Panzerzug_ successfully escaping Schwarzwaldspitze's encirclement and heading for the Rhein. Specifically, they looked to cross it. As one of the surprises the officials had implemented, a pontoon bridge was present, following one of the ferry routes present downstream – to the northwest – of the remains of the historical Ludendorff Bridge. The crew for Ooarai's StuG III F had a moment of fun by placing a sign at the pontoon bridge's east anchor that said ' _Ludendorff-Brücke_ ' as a joke and historical reference.

" _Die Brücke?_ " Isabel repeated with a raised eyebrow after receiving the report that Ooarai had been heading for the east bank, specifically for the bridge. With that information, Isabel had the _Jagdgeschwader_ load up on air-to-ground ordnance before taking off again for the Rhein.

The timing was such that Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ showed up over the river from the northwest just as the Ooarai _Panzerzug_ started crossing the bridge, the few Me 262s leading the way. Now Ooarai had prepared for this. They had deployed their _Flak-Batterie_ to either side of the river by the bridge to help fight back, and their _Jagdstaffel_ was arriving on scene simultaneously. However, the danger of the situation – namely, that if Schwarzwaldspitze succeeded in destroying the bridge with Ooarai's tanks still on it, then they would all fall straight into the Rhein – made one of Manfred's hands shake nervously.

 _Ad victoriam!_

The first attack against the bridge was by the Me 262s, with their blazing speed. Two of them unleashed a salvo of R4M rockets while the third opened up its massive 50 mm Mk 214a cannon. Almost nothing hit the bridge itself, rather just barely missing in many cases to strike the water instead, ergo not really damaging the bridge itself.

 _Ex machina!_

The reason the jets missed so much was because of their speed. They were simply going too fast to have time to line up their targets. Hanna had tried slowing down her Me 262 – uniquely identified by its yellow number _14_ – by closing the throttle completely, but it was useless for the most part due to the jet's slick aerodynamic form. And the jet pilot ended up paying for it, for when she opened up the throttle again, the engines abruptly flamed out and soon began to burn in earnest, not at all liking the quick and rough treatment of the throttle. Her scream of utter frustration was likely loud enough to be heard by the entire valley.

 _Non sibi sed!_

" _Feinde aus dem zehn Uhr!_ " Helma von Benz heard the callout from who was on watch for the enemy _Jagdgeschwader._ The Me 262 strikes were too fast for Ooarai's _Flak-Batterie_ to counter, but the rest of Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters could be dealt with. So the high-born German took aim with the big, unwieldy 88 mm Flak gun at the enemy fighters still a ways off. And, with all the hawkeye-like precision she was infamous for among Erika's little circle, she fired.

 _Patriae!_

" _Feindliche Jäger voraus!_ " one of the two crew for the He 219 was heard calling out the Ooarai _Jagdstaffel_ during the approach. Up in the sky, just as the Schwarzwaldspitze _Jagdgeschwader_ entered the area, the sole He 219 they'd brought out, and which led the formation, seemed to just _explode_ spontaneously. Right after announcing the enemy's presence, too. Slightly behind, Isabel was suddenly grateful she didn't lead from the front this time. Otherwise she would've fallen to that deadly Flak instead. She mentally made a note to find that gunner and commend them after the fight was over. Because that was one _hell_ of a shot.

 _Ad victoriam!_

" _Engagiert euch!_ " Isabel commanded to engage, not specifying whether to engage the enemies in the air or those on the ground. She purposely left that clarification vague, to allow her pilots to choose the most important target. All of those with air-to-ground ordnance chose to target the bridge, which was a good majority of the _Jagdgeschwader._

 _Ex machina!_

The battle, collectively, was now utter chaos, with Ooarai tanks trying to cross the bridge that Schwarzwaldspitze aviation desperately sought to destroy, yet were countered by Ooarai Flak and aviation. The Ooarai _Jagdstaffel_ fought on pure instinct, thrusting themselves into the hive of their German adversaries and shooting at the first enemy they saw. Bullets flew everywhere, water from the river splashed everywhere from various weapons, the bridge shook violently with each close impact, and the general picture was that of a struggle in its purest form.

 _Non sibi sed!_

The Schwarzwaldspitze _Jagdgeschwader_ lost a lot of its fighters in this engagement, either to Ooarai's _Jagdstaffel_ or to their _Flak-Batterie_ strategically placed at either end of the bridge. Their remaining two Me 262s were both claimed by Trace Yeager, flying Ooarai's Me 163 B-1a, who was later shot down herself when she ran out of fuel for the rocket-powered fighter. Many other Schwarzwaldspitze fighters were claimed either by various other Ooarai fighters or by their Flak, whether it be through direct combat or through shooting them down during their attempts to attack the bridge. Most of them were shot down when they tried attacking the bridge.

 _Patriae!_

"Floor it!" Kazuki Nakajima commanded with an eager face. The reason being for that, was because he and the rest of the Automotive Club had played around with the VK 45.01 (P) that was now rightfully theirs to use. So, being the last in line, the Porsche-designed German heavy tank accelerated, _much_ faster than expected, and drove up the west bank like an entirely different kind of Porsche. It was just in the nick of time, too, as the very next of Schwarzwaldspitze's attacks on the bridge struck, and finally caused it to collapse below the water.

Screeching past after its failed strafing run was an aircraft that literally nobody outside of Schwarzwaldspitze had ever expected to be deployed. Back at the Ooarai airfield, Natalie McBraun had a brief fan-girling moment when she discovered exactly what it was: the Ho 229 V3. A jet-powered flying wing, faster than any other wartime aircraft excluding the Me 163, and an even more fearsome opponent when taking into account its incredible turning abilities for a jet. Its appearance was exactly as it was when it was first assembled fully, with a few exceptions: the _Balkenkreuz_ markings, which were replaced with Schwarzwaldspitze's Iron Cross markings; and, most noticeable, the swastika to the port side of the stinger-like tail, which was done away with and replaced with a red number _9._

Effortlessly, and with an amazing reaction time, the German jet-powered flying wing acquired target and deposed of Ooarai's Ki-10, ending the aerial recon it was performing with only a handful of shots fired. A struggle ensued where much of Ooarai's _Jagdstaffel_ attempted to take down the Horten, resulting in numerous close calls for most of them as they reeled from the great resistance provided by the German jet-powered flying wing. The incredibly fierce Ho 229 was fighting as such due to how there were very few Schwarzwaldspitze fighters left flying. Most of them had already been taken out during the fight for the bridge, leaving only a handful of them left in total.

On the ground in the city itself, the Ooarai _Panzerzug_ all froze at the sight of something absolutely _massive_ cutting off their pathway. Whatever it was, it had a three-color camouflage scheme more suited towards the woodland environments, with a tan, brown, and green color scheme. Also, and not quite so obvious, was the red number _100_ on the side of what was discernible as the top half of the machine.

"Wow… It's a _Maus!_ " Yuudai Akiyama had sat there and just awed at the monstrously large tank. Indeed, it was a _Maus,_ and the tank guru/tank loader was far from the only one to be stunned into silence at its presence. The super heavy tank just held that aura of incredible and stunning power, and it took advantage by using the time nobody reacted to slowly get itself into firing position.

Finally, Manfred seemed to get his wits back and desperately ordered, "Retreat!" Naught but a second later, the massive 128 mm cannon that was the primary armament of the _Maus_ opened fire at the cluster of Ooarai tanks with a deafening boom. 'Primary' was the keyword here, because, as big and overly ambitious as the tank was, the _Maus_ also had a secondary short-barreled 75 mm cannon, which was extremely useful in wiping out Ooarai's secondary groups from the west bank.

 _Pulled into war  
To serve a vision that just didn't last for all their years_

The Horten was a very potent foe. Almost _too_ potent. But the keyword was 'almost,' because it was eventually shot down. However, it had done a great amount of damage before then, taking down all of Ooarai's planes excluding Anna's Fw 190D, Erika's Bf 109K, and Wolf's Me 410. The one responsible for shooting down the flying wing was actually Alena Klose's F4F. The fight's circumstances allowed her to set up a head-on with the Horten, and she just let loose. Of course, she herself was annihilated by the two 30 mm cannons of the Ho 229, but the streams of .50cal fire she had unleashed was, in part, ingested by the jets via the exposed frontal air inlets, which eventually set the jets ablaze and burned out the flying wing, taking it out of the fight as well.

There was nothing Ooarai's _Panzerzug_ could do to take out the _Maus_ by themselves. 188 tons of pure German engineering were simply too strong for them to defeat. So, they got a little help from their friends up above.

The Fw 190D was not easily observable from the skies, having purposely flown at low altitudes in its approach to the city. Upon getting in range, Anna climbed and gained altitude to get a better view to help with identifying her target. And, really, it wasn't all that hard to miss that 188-ton rolling bunker. But the added elevation did help with setting up for a dive.

And so, with a single 500 kg bomb strapped underneath, Anna bowed into a dive aiming for the _Maus._ She held her dive for as long as possible, releasing and immediately pulling up, only a couple dozen meters from hitting buildings. The satisfying, intense explosion of the bomb sounded in her ears, and looking back, she saw that little white flag pop out of the turret. Mission accomplished.

 _Part of a machine  
Though stoppable, as merciless as tidal waves!_

When the bridge collapsed, Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerabteilung_ was forced to take a very long detour around – somewhere around fifteen to twenty kilometers – to cross the river. They had to go all the way downstream to just before Bonn, taking route 562 over the bridge far to the north. With the amount of time it took to drive all the way to the other bridge and all the way back to Remagen, it would've not done well to hold anybody back, so Michael allowed his _Panzers_ to take their own pace, knowing that some were faster than others.

Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzergrenadierabteilung_ stayed behind to force the Ooarai _Flak-Batterie_ and their small _Panzergrenadierzug_ to capitulate, and capitulate they did eventually on the east bank, with the west bank being taken out by the _Maus_ beforehand. Schwarzwaldspitze's _Flak-Abteilung_ had suffered many losses during the previous fight for the hilltop, having been deliberately targeted by Ooarai's _Panzerzug._ Instead of wasting shots on impenetrable _Panzers,_ they had decided to thin out the herd of comparably weaker _Flakpanzers,_ which was paying off very well now.

How, exactly, did it? Well, with the diminished aerial presence and the greatly weakened anti-air force, Wolf had practically free reign in her Me 410 to thin out the number of _Panzers_ in Schwarzwaldspitze's ranks. First, she had gone after the slower heavy tanks, knowing that Ooarai's tanks wouldn't be able to take those down very easily. That sequence had her claim the Germans' two _Tiger_ IIs and their lone _Jagdtiger,_ but Michael's _Tiger_ number _212_ remained elusive.

Then the wine-red-haired history buff next went after the _Panthers,_ which had already reached route 562 with the bridge. The German pilot managed to take some of them out with her 50 mm cannon, but there were still a few _Panthers_ remaining, along with _Jagdpanzer_ IV/70s. Regardless, the reduced numbers she was certain would be enough for the _Panzerzug_ to handle.

 _Crazy warriors on a leash  
Or young kids who lost their way?_

"What the devil was going through your mind then? Please do tell, because I can't understand it one bit," Hanna sneered at Erika. About a week before the big fight, she had flown her Me 262 over to the _Zuikaku_ when it and the _Graf Zeppelin_ had gotten close enough to each other so she could 'pay a visit' to a couple of old comrades. And to make an impression on them as a whole, by displaying the kind of foe Schwarzwaldspitze was. "It was bad enough you decided to just get up and leave without a word, but then you decide to go ahead and become the _Staffelkapitän_ of some insignificant, backwater school?" She had a _lot_ of choice words for her for all her actions had caused.

Hanna was not much taller than Erika, but she still held a few centimeters over her, which gave her the natural position of power over her. Not like she needed it, with how her former superior did not bother to oppose her. "Just how much pain and agony must you spread around?" Hanna asked next, not even close to finished with venting her rage with Erika. "It's bad enough that I got _this,_ " she pointed to the scarred left side of her face, "due to your failures as a leader, but where do you finally draw the line? Helmine? Karl?" As she listed them off, she even decided to gesture to Manfred with a hand. " _Him?_ " Bringing her hand back down, she listed off even more people who had been hurt through her actions. "Michael? _Der Präsident?_ _Your sister? Where_ do you finally _STOP!?_ "

Erika could not say anything in response because she was trying her hardest to not feel guilty. She still failed at that, though. Hearing of all her old comrades that had been hurt by her actions had gotten to her. The reminder of Manfred had her feeling a whole new level of guilt, considering she had turned completely against him in her power lust and had actually _fought_ him physically, and brutally.

 _Grand illusions given flight  
May seem real at times_

"And yet you still sewed chaos after you left," Hanna scathingly accused in a low tone. "You just couldn't stop and _think_ for once, could you? Have you, for once, considered the consequences of your actions?" She didn't even allow Erika the time to answer. "No, you didn't, because _you_ did not suffer the consequences. _We_ did. And, oh, how we _suffered._ "

The entirety of Erika's group of friends were present, which should've given Erika the position of power, but the pure, unadulterated, and staggering amount of bitterness and hatred in Hanna's voice dissuaded any of them from interfering. Once, Natalie McBraun tried speaking up in her friend's defense, "Lieutenant Jochen, with all due respect-!"

"OUTSIDERS WILL STAY _SILENT!_ " Hanna sharply retorted at the interruption, cutting off the Canadian. In response, the walking aircraft encyclopedia immediately quietened and backed off meekly, fully understanding this was none of her business. With that dealt with, Hanna focused on Erika again. "You may be ignorant of this, but I know one of you is not," she began again, giving a meaningful glance to Manfred, who shrunk a bit in answer. Looking back to the blonde, Hanna continued. "Your departure was the catalyst to an outright _war_ between all of us. You were much more important than you believed yourself to be, and yet you could not recognize that! By your hand, you have injured numerous amounts of your schoolmates because you could not recognize your own importance!"

The scarred blonde eventually decided to wrap up her venting. "You _sicken_ me," she spat. "Mark my words: I will avenge each and every one of your offenses, and I will _crush_ you personally." With that, she walked off back to her Me 262 parked outside the hangars. "See you over the Rhein!" she taunted over her shoulder.

 _(Panzers on a line!  
Form Black Forest's spine!  
Lethal grand design!)_

Looking up at the skies from further north, still a ways from the battlefield, Michael took note of the lack of numbers on both sides' air forces. Namely, two for each side plus the Me 410 still working on ground attack. However, with how it was unaware of him, he thought to try something he had really only dreamed of doing as a passing thought. " _Ziele auf der Zerstörer,_ " he commanded his gunner. Wordlessly, the order was obeyed with nothing more than a raised eyebrow as the gunner aimed for the twin-engined bomber destroyer.

The amount of deflection necessary to achieve this shot, and the amount of sheer luck for the target to stay on the same path, made an aircraft in flight arguably the most difficult target of all for a tank gunner. But Michael held confidence in his gunner's abilities, and let him fire when ready.

The cannon soon fired off its shell, and it streamed through the air much faster than sound itself. Everyone in _Tiger_ number _212_ held their breath collectively watching the tracer continue going and closing the distance. Soon enough, they witnessed the extremely satisfying sight of the Me 410 just blow up in the air, thanks to the shell's landing on target. But there was no time to celebrate, and Michael immediately ordered the driver to continue driving to Remagen, " _Voraus._ "

" _Es gibt nur noch uns,_ " Isabel was told by Helmine over the radio that it was just them left. The black-haired ultra-ace absently nodded, knowing it was just the two of them left against Erika and her own wingman, that other Fw 190D that was flown by _Präsident_ Novat's twin sister. She still couldn't believe he had a twin sister, fraternal twin yeah, but it just surprised her so much. In answer, Isabel began to climb off to the side, with Helmine following. The two remaining Ooarai fighters did the same in the opposite direction. Such a scenario gave the impression that both sides were sizing up one another and having a battle of wills.

 _What about the ones executing ordeeeeers? (Panzers on a line!  
Form Black Forest's spine!  
Lethal grand design!)_

On the ground, Ooarai was in another desperate last stand with what remained of their _Panzerzug._ Their only remaining tanks were the VK 45.01 (P) participating in its first battle, the StuG III F, the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) undergoing its first trial by fire, and the _Panzer_ IV H. Collectively, they managed to eliminate the rest of the _Panthers_ and _Jagdpanzer_ IV/70s, but at a heavy cost. Out of the remaining four of them, only Manfred's _Panzer_ IV survived, the rest falling at various other points in the battle. With no one else remaining, that allowed the vibrant brunette to set up a showdown with his older brother in the streets of Remagen.

Up in the air, the long-awaited final air battle began, with both sides turning towards each other. Now, Anna and Helmine both knew that their commanders thought them truly talented pilots in a high skill league. However, it must be underscored that the two of them were nothing compared to the two Hartmann sisters, who had _years_ of experience over them both. So nobody was exactly surprised when the two wingmen fell first. What _was_ surprising was how long they both had managed to keep up, which earned them notable respect in the eyes of the spectators.

Both Erika and Isabel backed off from each other when they lost their wingmen, going back to sizing each other up, trying to predict what the other would do next. This was the fight Isabel had been waiting for, the one where she swore she would redeem herself for her inexcusable offenses at this time last year. And she was determined to _not_ lose.

Down on the ground, the showdown between the Nishizumi brothers was just about ready to begin. Both held their fire as they stared each other down from opposite sides of a campus square, both sitting heads-up style. Michael openly challenged Manfred to a duel, the purpose of which both knew well enough, so it was left unsaid. A few seconds passed as the younger of the two thought it over. " _Ich akzeptiere,_ " Manfred finally answered to his brother that he accepted.

 _What about them all!?_

And so followed the duels, both in the air and on the ground. The duel on the ground was very fast-paced, full of blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments where shots were still fired despite that. Much of it was waged on the residential streets, which often led to houses getting dragged into the carnage. Michael commonly used HE shells to cause further destruction to prevent Manfred from creating ad-hoc paths to evade him, which culminated in one occasion where he shot down a church tower to block a road.

In the air, both girls were pulling out every last bit of knowledge they had in aerial combat to combat one another. Isabel often tried to set up situations where Erika would be forced to shoot from a distance, knowing the 30 mm MK 108 cannon on Erika's 109 was shorter-ranged than the 20 mm MG 151/20 on Isabel's 109. However, the blonde saw this coming and instead tried luring the black-haired ultra-ace into energy traps. The two of them eventually came to the conclusion that the fight would only be settled through a head-on, as they were just too highly skilled to be defeated any other way. So they set up for a head-on, and just let loose with all their guns, pouring their souls into it in hopes to claim victory.

Down in the grandstands, the one known as the God of Mischief had kept his sight on the two _Messers_ fighting each other for their entire duel. He wore an all-black suit – black jacket, black undershirt, black tie, black pants, black shoes – and his hair was shorter, like how it was before he jumped from the Rainbow Bridge, to be _just_ unrecognizable enough to the majority of the mortals. He _was_ still considered an enemy of Earth, after all. Watching the aerial duel, he grew one of those unique smiles only he could pull off, one that could make anyone feel as if he was mocking them. "I like them," Loki muttered to himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author does not claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music used belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	150. Kapitel 27,5,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-fünf: Glorreiche Zwecke**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Klein Italien... Italiener, das Heißt**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Anchovy was out. She was out cold, at her desk of all places. The _duce_ of Anzio was napping, just barely keeping her head up off the desktop with a hand under her chin, eyes shut out of weariness, and not looking as if she would wake up anytime soon.

There were a number of reasons why she was slacking off as she was now. For one, the amount of work she had to do as _duce_ was, obviously, a lot. That was enough to make most anyone else just get up and walk out. There was also the life those at Anzio tended to live by: the party life. Such a life often came back to bite the next morning, and Anchovy was no exception to this. Partying until the wee hours certainly contributed to her present napping state. But, considering it was the weekend, the consequences were much less severe than they were during the week.

Another high-ranking reason for her exhaustion was her fellow comrades. While she could _never_ dislike her comrades, she had to reluctantly admit to herself that they were with their flaws. A _lot_ of flaws, many of which were incredibly frustrating to deal with. Perhaps she would be awakened by one of them when they inevitably brought some problem before her so she could fix it.

Nah. That's not how she was awakened.

A harsh yank on one of her twin pale green ponytails jolted her awake as she experienced the sensation of being pulled downwards and to the side by her hair.

"Hngh!" she grunted in surprise, feeling her head loll to the side from whatever yanked on it. "Bah-but-what the-what is going on!?" She tripped over her words for a bit from the suddenness of it all, until she looked down to the side to find out what was pulling on her hair.

" _Sorella!_ " a little boy elatedly called her as he kept insistently tugging on her hair. " _Sorella!_ "

What was… undeniably _odd_ about this boy to Anchovy is that he effectively looked just like a de-aged version of Franco, no more than five years of age if she had to guess, with the short black hair and everything, all on a much shorter and childlike body. He lacked the cape, rather instead just sticking with a miniaturized version of the basic black and white school uniform of Anzio.

At the sight of 'Mini-Franco,' as she had now dubbed in her mind, Anchovy could do nothing more than lower her head slightly and give off an 'are you kidding me' expression. "Oh, are you kidding me?" she saw fit to mutter aloud, as well. "I already had to go through this once, and that was enough to last me a lifetime. _Please_ don't let me go through this _again…_ "

The words she spoke to herself were in reference to how she had a younger brother, who she well remembered had pulled pretty much the exact same annoying antics on her at that age. It was frustrating because Anchovy knew that she couldn't simply bark at Mini-Franco to stop, as she knew from experience that telling someone like him to stop only served to further enable him to keep on doing whatever it was she wanted him to stop doing.

After a minute, she grabbed Mini-Franco's comparatively tiny wrist gently but firmly, halting his hair-pulling. "Let. Go," the Italian tanker demanded, finally sick of him and his yanking on her precious ponytails.

" _No!_ " he smiled and yanked on her hair again, making her head loll again from the force.

Anchovy's face adopted the 'this is gonna be a _long_ day' look.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that morning, Anchovy was out on a casual stroll, having nothing better to do at the moment since there were no classes that day, nor anything related to the _Panzerkraft_ team she had to do. Nope. It was just her, and the fresh air.

Well, okay, maybe not quite.

She heard the tappity-tap-tap of small feet coming from behind. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the little boy she dubbed Mini-Franco behind her, running to just keep up with her walking pace. At first, she thought nothing of it and dismissed him.

That turned out to be a big mistake. " _Sorella!_ " she heard that unmistakably childish voice just as she felt a massive tug on her other ponytail. Mini-Franco was literally swinging a la Tarzan using her hair.

"Hey!" Anchovy grunted at him swinging with her hair. "I thought I said no more pulling! I did _NOT_ mean go to the other side and keep on doing it! GAH!" She yelped in surprise upon feeling another harsh tug on her other unoccupied ponytail, and from the feelings she was getting she could only interpret that someone else was using it to swing around, just like Mini-Franco.

"What the-? My other…!" she glanced over her other side to try and find out the cause of her other ponytail's swinging.

What she found was another child, this one a girl that looked incredibly like Pepperoni, having the same short, braided hairdo. And, just like the full-size Pepperoni, the miniature version had rambunctious levels of energy, as she was also using one of Anchovy's ponytails to swing around a la Tarzan.

"… Huh?" was all Anchovy could dumbly say in response, with an appropriate dumbstruck face to match.

It was at this moment that Anchovy was suddenly grateful for the particular shampoo and conditioner she regularly used on her hair. The blend would go to work on strengthening her hair at the roots as part of the overall objective of making her hair healthier in its appearance. However, it wasn't exactly cheap, and she remembered well how Carpaccio had considered it overkill upon reading off what it could do. Now, however, _il duce_ was convinced it was worth the money considering she was able to withstand two rowdy toddlers swinging their weight through the air using her hair.

" _Siiiii!_ " the two miniaturized Italians joyfully cheered as they continued swinging on Anchovy's hair like it was a ride at a park.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, WILL YOU TWO QUIT MESSING AROUND WITH MY HAIR!?" the twin-tailed leader and present carnival ride raised her voice with the two children.

" _NO!_ " both of them joyfully declined to stop, continuing to swing around with her hair like it was a rope swing.

Anchovy gritted her teeth at that, not at all liking how she was degraded to a park ride so easily. Her scalp, while perfectly intact thanks to her shampoo, was aching at the roots due to all the pulling, and it was getting annoying. Also, she had a bone to pick with how the two children were so readily opposing their elder.

At that thought, Anchovy pressed a hand to her temple, immediately blanching at how she was considered an elder in this light. While it was technically true, it still disgusted her to have the term associated with her. She was far from an old woman.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, when Anchovy decided to head back to her flat briefly with her two swinging passengers, she found herself not minding the two rambunctious toddlers all that much. Yes, her scalp would still be killing her the next day, but she was eventually able to just let go of the childishness, realizing it for what it was: childish fun.

"Hey, you guys," Anchovy said to the two miniature Italians as she walked deeper into her flat, sparing them both a glance. She was hoping they would like the idea that had struck her earlier, the reason why she went back to her dorm. "I have a football somewhere around here. You want to play around with it?"

The effect was immediate as she felt the sudden lack of tension now on her hair and heard the gasps of eagerness from the two of them. " _SIIIII!_ " they shrieked an affirmative.

"Ha ha, okay, okay," Anchovy shook her head with an indulgent grin at the two children, finding them irresistibly cute at that moment. "Just wait here for a moment while I go get it." She held her hands out in a gesture to stay where they were, before heading to her closet.

Her rooms were a bit of a mess, but compared to the rest of Anzio's students, Anchovy wasn't all that bad in maintaining cleanliness in her own place. Unlike some people she knew, whose quarters were so messy that one could hardly find the floor beneath all the rubbish.

That level of disorganization Anchovy had limited to her closet, instead. "Oh, come on, where are you…" she muttered to herself as she sifted through the pile of miscellaneous items on the floor inside.

She found something, but just by feel alone, that wasn't the football she was looking for. "No…" she mumbled, tossing an old schoolbag behind her aimlessly. "No…" Next she tossed an old plastic trophy she got from some competition she entered as a child. She couldn't remember what it was now. Afterwards, she felt a handle, and lifted it out of the pile out of curiosity.

"Oh, I've been wondering where these went!" she marveled briefly at the small container she pulled out, filled with dozens of those small, super-bouncy balls that were so fun and addicting to bounce all the time. After a second, she set the container aside to continue her search for the football.

"Whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute…" she paused briefly as she felt that distinct outer skin of a football. Just to be sure, she ran her finger around the surface of it, catching a dip that she knew was stitching. Tracing it around, she felt six distinct points before her finger was back where it started. That confirmed it for her. "Aha! There you are, you sneaky little thing!"

Pulling the football out, she proceeded to leave, but she paused for a moment looking at the state of disarray her closet was in. She stared for a moment before shaking her head. "Meh, I'll clean it up later," she mumbled to herself before leaving her room.

Her footsteps were easily heard by the miniaturized Franco and Pepperoni. As such, she was immediately greeted with an incredibly enthusiastic, " _DUCE!_ " from the both of them as soon as she was in their sights.

"Alright, I've got it!" Anchovy said to them, holding up the football. "Now let's go and have some fun!" She was quite enthusiastic about playing around with the two children, even if she wasn't before, just because she understood the meaning of 'work hard, play hard.' And she definitely worked hard, so why shouldn't she play hard?

" _Duce! Duce!_ " the two little Italians cheered as they all practically hopped out of the dorm. " _Duce! Capitano!_ "

Okay, that was a little weird, Anchovy had to admit, with that ' _Capitano_ ' cheer, but it didn't bother her really.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Duce?_ " Franco tried to gain Anchovy's attention and rouse her from her sleep, to no success.

" _Ehi, duce!_ " Pepperoni tried to rouse _il duce_ herself. But her attempt was to no avail also.

Out in the real world, Anchovy was still fast asleep, head resting atop her arms on her desk. Franco and Pepperoni were both on either direct side of her, the both of them gently tugging on her twin ponytails to try and awaken her. But it was to no avail.

"She's _still_ not awake?" Fernando asked. He was also in the office, as were Carpaccio and Furio. The three of them were currently preoccupied on the floor playing a game of BS, having nothing better to do. The most unruly of the three laid down two cards for his turn. "Two fours."

" _Cazzate,_ " Furio immediately called BS on him.

" _Dannazione..._ " Fernando cursed, inheriting the small pile of cards between them all into his own hand, having been called out truthfully.

" _Duce_ must be real tired to still be asleep by this time," Carpaccio mused, gracefully laying down a card. "One five."

Neither of the two boys dared call BS on her play.

"No, no… I said no, Mini-Franco…" Anchovy mumbled into her arms. Though, because of that, it came out more like, "Mm, mm… M mm MM, Mm-mm-MM-mm…" Or, something along those lines.

"Did anyone say something?" Carpaccio asked, having heard something.

"I didn't," Fernando quipped.

"Not me," Furio answered.

"Wasn't me," Pepperoni and Franco both responded simultaneously from the desk.

At that, everyone else just decided to shrug it off and leave the mystery to rest.

None of them were aware of it, but Anchovy's sleep-talking was done in reference to her own dreaming. In her head, the three of them – her, Mini-Pepperoni, and Mini-Franco – were all heading to a field to play around with the football, but Mini-Franco was insistent on going to the muddiest field out there. Anchovy did not want that, since she knew it would be a pain to get cleaned up afterwards.

But neither of the two children listened and instead took off for the muddy field at full speed. Because children.

XXXXXXXXXX

 ** _Part of_** **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 ** _The author does not claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to_** **Actas.** ** _Any references made belong to their respective owners._**

 ** _Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability._**


	151. Kapitel 27,5,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-fünf: Glorreiche Zwecke**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Glorreiches Land**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

It was thunderous, to summarize the sounds of all the war machines when they all rolled out and took off. It matched up the overall mood pretty well, all things considered, as this final match between Ooarai High School and Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium was greatly anticipated to be _intense._

Obviously, the German school's combat prowess needed not to be explained with their long history of merciless victory. But one thing made abundantly clear by the Ooarai bunch over the course of this season was that, despite all of their disadvantages, they were incredibly fierce and not to be underestimated. They were a one-of-a-kind team, with a very strong overall character to them, none more so than their _Jagdstaffel's_ undisputed top ace: Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann.

"If it were easy… everyone would do it," Loki observed the distinctive Bf 109 K-4 as it flew closer to the fight from where he was among the grandstands. The dark-haired God of Mischief somewhat understood the blond-haired ultra-ace's position here, namely in the 'sibling spats' department. While he bet there wasn't a single family quite like his own when it came to family fights – most of which often resulted in the threat of destruction or the _actual_ destruction of an entire planet – just taking what he knew about the two Hartmann sisters he could reasonably guess it would be an entertaining show, at least. The sorcerer knew that Erika was in the weaker position here, which drove him to his comment: there weren't many who would be so confident in facing such an overwhelming enemy with pretty much zero advantages on their end, but Erika was one of the few who was.

It wasn't like he was really rooting for either side, though. No, he was simply here to revel in the chaos that was bound to unfold as a result.

 _Endless  
Waste  
Our patience runs thin_

One of the most rewarding attributes of Ooarai's combatants was the amount of patience each of them had now, especially so for the _Panzerzug._ While the last fight against Pravda showed a glaring lack of it that nearly cost them the match, they had come to learn from this mistake quickly enough to be proficient at it in the next fight.

It was a worthy attribute especially for _Schildkröte,_ the team of Student Council members that had previously operated Ooarai's _Panzer_ 38(t), because now they operated a _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t), a tank destroyer that was well-suited to ambushes. Patience was a necessity for those kinds of tactics. It was so far a success, as Schwarzwaldspitze had yet to uncover that the light tank destroyer was hiding among shrubbery, lying in ambush.

 _Here!  
We stand ready!  
Let the battle begin!_

While the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) was doing its own thing, the rest of the _Panzerzug_ was merely waiting for Schwarzwaldspitze's land forces to approach. They had situated themselves atop a hill with a commanding view of the landscape. While greatly outnumbered, they were not strictly guaranteed to be defeated, as Manfred Nishizumi was a clever guy.

Not only was it his idea to send off the _Jagdpanzer_ 38(t) to sew chaos among Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzers,_ but he also made use of the Ki-10 belonging to the _Jagdstaffel_ in a reconnaissance role. The German _Panzerkommandeur_ was also a natural in improvising, if it came down to it, which it most likely would. Because when did Ooarai _ever_ have the advantage?

Well, Erika had an answer for that question: never. So, upon spotting the flying armada of Schwarzwaldspitze, she didn't mention that fact and kept the mood light, saying to her _Jagdstaffel,_ "Showtime, assholes!"

" _Language!_ " she heard Leah Mulberry – member of the Public Morals Committee and pilot of Ooarai's D.520 – instinctively reprimand. That was kind of the raven-haired English girl's thing.

In response, Erika huffed in disappointment. "Fine," she mumbled, before clearing her throat and trying again. "Showtime, a-holes!"

The whole situation was amusing to the rest of the _Jagdstaffel,_ leading to a round of giggles echoing throughout the channel.

 _(Hit! Back! Charge!)  
As their forces arrive_

But they all quickly refocused as they entered battle with Schwarzwaldspitze's massive _Jagdgeschwader._ The Germans chose to open the battle with an air raid on the Ooarai _Panzerzug,_ calling on their usual blitz tactics.

The resulting air battle was fast-paced, filled with deflection shooting and blink-and-you'll-miss-it eliminations. Because many of Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters had previously been equipped for ground attack, the Ooarai fighters were able to shoot them down much more easily than otherwise possible thanks to the situation providing them with the energy advantage.

 _(Shove! Go! Push!)  
Leave no foes left alive!_

" _Um, Fräulein Staffelkapitän… do you have any specific orders for us?_ " the ninth-year Alena Klose asked over the channel in the midst of battle. While having grown a lot over the past year in attitude, she was still notably timid when dealing with her superior, stuck in that position between being skeptical and trusting.

"Excluding Ron, nope," Erika answered flippantly as she descended onto an enemy 109. "Just shoot down as many as you can." A short burst of guns from her own 109 and the enemy _Gustav_ was eliminated.

" _I thought you said you had a plan!_ " Leah's voice came over the channel next, sounding chiding as always.

"Of course I have a plan!" Erika retorted as she zoom climbed back up to higher altitudes, searching for her next target all the while. "Just because it sounds and looks stupid doesn't mean it actually is!"

" _Why do I have the feeling you just called all of us stupid…?_ " Anna Novat muttered, just loud enough to be heard over the channel. Even though she heard it, Erika chose not to respond to that, instead focusing on lining up one of the multitude of Schwarzwaldspitze's late Bf 109Gs and shooting it down.

 _Facing the storm  
Battered and torn  
Fighting for our glorious home_

The air war was quite the spectacle to those observing, as it was utter chaos at every bank and roll. Though Ooarai's _Jagdstaffel_ only had seven hands available to fight back with – of which one, the Me 163, was only there for a few minutes at most thanks to its limited endurance – there was nothing held back by them in the least bit. It was one of the aspects that made up Ooarai's character: their stubbornness. Even while so drastically outmatched, it just didn't seem to matter to them, because they've been there and done that numerous times already.

They had learned full well by now to operate as a cohesive group. Whenever one of them was attacking, there was always someone there to have their back, and whenever one of them was retreating, there was always someone to cover them and continue putting pressure on the enemy. They never gave Schwarzwaldspitze a break from being attacked and never made it easy for them to attack.

 _Come take our hand  
Together we stand  
Defending our glorious land_

On the ground, Ooarai's _Panzerzug_ was caught up in a very last-stand-like scenario, trapped on the hilltop like they were as Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerabteilung_ pressed on to surround them. Though the multinational platoon was able to inflict at least some loss on the Germans, said battalion just shrugged it off and kept pushing without falter.

Manfred understood that was his brother's thing, a teaching passed down from their father. ' _Weiter vorrücken,_ ' or 'always advance.' The younger of the two brothers always hated those teachings because of how serious of a picture it painted of the Arts of Warfare. He wasn't in this for the reputation. He was here to just have fun.

Though, if he had to be honest, that was a lie now. He was here now because the fate of his new school rested on this single fight. And he was highly invested in making sure it stuck around.

"There!" he called out upon spotting a gap. "On their right flank! Go!"

"Yay, now we can stop sitting on a hilltop twiddling our thumbs like a bunch of jackasses," Makoto Reizei sarcastically cheered from the driver's seat as he piloted the _Panzer_ IV H according to Manfred's commands.

"Hey, you were the one who said you wanted to fight beside friends," Samuru Takebe pointed out from opposite him, in the radio operator's seat.

 _Silence!  
Falls!  
As the screams fade away_

The sounds of battle quieted down after Ooarai's _Panzerzug_ made their great escape off the hilltop. After getting past the enemy _Panzers,_ they had rolled past their rearguard made up of numerous knocked out _Flakpanzers._ This was a deliberate move on Manfred's part to have the weaker tanks in his lineup go after the AA vehicles, to at least make them useful. Ooarai's weaker tanks – most obvious of which was the _I-Go otsu_ – did not have the firepower to punch through the thick armor on many of the German _Panzers._

The Ooarai _Panzerzug_ could hear the moans and groans of the Germans who crewed the _Flakpanzers,_ because of some of the bumps and bruises and other painful but not overly life-threatening injuries that came as a part of being in such an exposed vehicle.

"Sorry, it's nothing personal!" Noriko Isobe – a short-statured water polo player with some no-nonsense short, dark brown hair on his head and eyes of the same color – apologized to all the Germans with a wave while standing out of the _I-Go otsu's_ commander hatch as the Ooarai _Panzerzug_ passed them by. Despite having the most pathetic tank in the platoon, the crew of athletes within were incredibly aggressive boys, and it made them able to take out any light-armored vehicle with little effort. Hence, they had quite the field day dealing with enemy Flak.

 _Home!  
Of the fallen!  
And the home of the brave!_

Upon reaching the east bank of the Rhein, the Ooarai _Panzerzug_ briefly stopped as the history buff crew for the StuG III F took the time to erect a sign they had brought along. It said ' _Ludendorff-Brücke_ ' on it, meant to be a little humorous reference on their part when they heard of how there was a temporary bridge built across the river just for this fight.

But the foursome of history buffs also silently honored everyone that had fallen all those decades ago battling for the very bridge they were referencing. The impromptu memorial didn't last very long, but it was just something they felt they should do, because who knew when they would get the opportunity to do so in person again. Not only did they have a great love of history, but they also had a great deal of respect for it. It only felt right to pay respect to all those that had died there.

Meanwhile at the Ooarai airfield, all of their fighters were being rearmed with another pool of ammunition, as well as having any damage incurred fixed.

"OUT OF ALL OF US, YOU HAVE AN ENTIRE DAMN COLLECTION OF TOOLS AT YOUR DISPOSAL! IF ANYONE WERE TO HAVE SOLDER, IT'S YOU!" Antonella Silva yelled at Natalie McBraun, who was hastily working under the cowl of the Bf 109 K-4 to fix a severed electrical wire for one of the ammunition counters.

"THAT'S _EXACTLY_ MY POINT!" the Canadian yelled back to the American, finally settling for just crimping said wire back together. " _I_ HAVE TO DO _EVERYTHING!_ "

"YOU ARE WASTING A _LOT_ OF TIME HERE!" Erika yelled at the both of them from within the still-running 109's cockpit, the canopy swung open for the time being.

 _Facing the storm  
Battered and torn  
Fighting for our glorious home_

After _finally_ solving that issue, all of the Ooarai fighters were back in the air. Soon enough, they intercepted the massive Schwarzwaldspitze _Jagdgeschwader._ Erika noted that many of them were loaded up for a ground attack, which was good for them as it would give them the advantage basically by default in air combat. But those jets flying ahead were huge problems, way too fast for any of her own fighters to intercept, excluding the Me 163. The rocket-powered fighter wasn't coming in until later thanks to having to refuel again.

As they approached, the blonde ultra-ace saw the leader of Schwarzwaldspitze's main formation just spontaneously blow up. "Ooh!" she oohed, surprised yet greatly impressed, before growing a smile as she quickly figured out the cause. "Haha, Helma just can't seem to miss, can she?"

 _Come take our hand  
Together we stand  
Defending our glorious land_

Over the makeshift bridge across the Rhein, the air battle that ensued quickly turned desperate once again. Only this time, Ooarai had help from their own _Flak-Batterie._ That meant Schwarzwaldspitze fighters began to fall in greater numbers this time, turning the tide further out of the Germans' favor.

Eventually, all of the Ooarai tanks were able to cross the bridge to the west bank. It was just in the nick of time, as the very next German airstrike finally collapsed the temporary bridge, preventing anyone from crossing over anymore.

That wasn't necessarily a good thing, as with their objective failed, Schwarzwaldspitze's _Jagdgeschwader_ refocused its efforts onto eliminating Ooarai's _Jagdstaffel._ Even though the Germans were much fewer in number now – to the point where they were actually at the numerical disadvantage in the air – they still had some incredibly powerful weapons at their disposal, one of which was their Ho 229 V3.

Said flying wing quickly took out Ooarai's Ki-10 after its unsuccessful strafing run on the bridge, and later took on the rest of the Ooarai _Jagdstaffel_ all by itself. It screamed past Erika's Bf 109 after missing its pass on it. "Wow, that's intense," the blonde commented, watching the flying wing zoom back up to higher altitudes at great speed. "Though, seeing such a rare aircraft going all out is quite the spectacle."

" _We're getting our asses kicked and_ _ **that's**_ _all you have to say?_ " Nadine's sassy retort came over the radio. Nadine was one of the newest pilots in the _Jagdstaffel,_ flying an N1K2-J. She had average-length blonde hair and blue eyes, with a violet hairband on her head as well. She was an avid gamer, having a preference for the tactical aspect of war games. So she already knew the basics of air combat from that.

Almost immediately after she said her piece, Nadine's _Shiden-Kai_ was ripped apart by the Ho 229's second pass. After evading the flying wing again, Erika kept her eyes on it as it retreated. "Did someone say something?" she asked, having sworn she heard a voice over the radio a few seconds ago.

As quippy and sarcastic as she could be – and she gave those aspects of herself _plenty_ of exercise – Erika still had plenty of seriousness in her, most aptly demonstrated when she gave a rousing speech a few days ago to the entirety of Ooarai's Arts of Warfare program in preparation for the final battle against the Germans.

"You know what life likes to do?" she questioned the crowd at one point. "It likes to make losers out of people." The blonde saw some people grow insulted looks at the remark, and she hurried her speech to fix it. "I mean… it likes to take things away from us. Life wants us to lose things that are important to us, just for kicks. But, right now, life has given us a chance… A chance, to give a shit."

She paced slowly before everyone, still giving them her attention, as she continued on, "For far too long, that was my problem: not giving a shit. But now, I do give a shit." She spread her arms out nonchalantly. "And not just because I'm one of the idiots who lives here." Slowly bringing her arms back to her sides, she allowed a second of silence to pass to build up her words. "But because I've come to see all of us," she gestured to the entire crowd with one of her arms, "as family."

She shook her head lightly as she continued, "Yes, I know we all have our moments where we just can't get along. Families will fight, that's a given." Erika then gestured to herself with one hand. "I'm personally guilty of this, as a few of you know." Letting her hand fall back down, she slowly paced. "But the thing about family… is that you'll be willing to do anything for them. No matter what little petty grievances you have with them, no matter how annoyed you get with them, no matter what little ticks of theirs just drive you insane…" She stopped and fixed the crowd with a look of sincerity. "At the end of the day, no matter what, family always sticks together."

Yet, Erika knew that she had come very, very, _very_ close to alienating herself from the concept of family. Her most recent fight with Manfred several weeks ago – the one where both had gotten extremely physical – had ended with them battered, on their knees, her holding him by the neck with one hand and the other poised to strike his face. But after a moment where everything was still and silent and Manfred was left to wonder whether or not she would really do it, she finally broke down and let out a tortured scream, releasing him and shrinking back as she dropped her face into her hands.

It was by far the most vulnerable Manfred had seen the blonde, perhaps ever. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to regret it in the long run. Oh, sure, in the present he absolutely _hated_ having to see her like that. It absolutely tore his heart apart. But, being the more logical between them, he could see the good in this. Namely, that it was a step in the right direction for her mental state.

 _(Einmal in der Nacht war nicht genug  
Es dauerte vier, bevor ich zufrieden war)_

"Erika, this is madness!" Manfred tried to further reason with the blonde. He and Erika had descended into having an argument after their fight. Neither had enough energy to get to their feet, but enough to keep their fight continuing at least with words.

"Is it madness?" she hissed at him, trembling with the amount of rage still coursing through her. "Is it?" The lines of bullshit the vibrant brunette kept uttering just made her so pissed at how he couldn't understand her. " _Is it!?_ "

 _(Und ich habe es geliebt  
Ich habe jede Sekunde genossen)_

"Yes!" Manfred retorted, as if it was so blindingly obvious. "You think this madness will end with you standing atop a podium!?"

"If I don't, then what!?" Erika turned things back onto him. "This is not some fairytale story where everything can turn out good in the end! You cannot be so naive as to actually _believe_ that _Scheiße,_ can you!?"

Manfred didn't know what to say to that and went silent for a few seconds. "Why are you doing this?" he finally asked, voice thick with emotion for what she was doing to him being like this. "What are you hoping to get out of this… _endeavor_ of yours? Just to get what you want? Because congratulations, you got it!"

 _(Auf meinem Rücken gelegt, ritt, von hinten befestigt  
So weit wie möglich auf dir gesunken)_

"I don't need you telling me what I want!" Erika snarked back. It was ridiculous, she knew, to stay so heated, but her pride demanded she not back down.

"Then _you_ tell me what you want!" Manfred threw her words back in her face. And it worked, as Erika suddenly had all the heat flood from her and fell silent. But the vibrant brunette kept venting his frustrations. "Is it to get me to hate you? Because it's working!"

"If it's working, then why are you still here?" she returned with a low voice. The little bit of bite in it was emphasized when her blue-eyed gaze turned icy.

 _(Und weil ich so unglaublich eng bin  
Es war nicht sehr schwierig)_

"I never wanted to win," Erika said, still glaring coldly at Manfred. Yet he could see the hurt in her eyes as she did. "I never wanted a damn trophy, I never wanted a place of honor, I never wanted my name written across the skies for all to see!"

Her emotions started becoming more prominent as she talked, evidenced by her heavy breathing and little twitches of her facial features and how her fists were clenched tight.

"All I wanted was to be recognized as her equal!" she started again, practically yelling now and voice hoarse with emotion. "All I ever wanted was to have my sister back!"

In the present day, it was crunch time for the Ooarai _Panzerzug._ They had been chased down finally by Schwarzwaldspitze's _Panzerabteilung,_ or what remained of it, anyway. Shortly after coming up with a plan, Manfred put it into action as all of his own remaining tanks charged in with a mighty battle cry. It was a passing thought, but the cry reminded him of Vikings, for whatever reason. Maybe with how rag-tag yet fierce his team was, or something like that.

 _Facing the storm  
Battered and torn  
Fighting for our glorious home_

In the air, Wolf had nay but a moment to recognize what the hell just happened when everything around her just inexplicably _blew up._ Her Me 410 was absolutely annihilated, with only the cockpit remaining intact. "GET OUT, NOW!" she yelled out, hoping her gunner heeded before fumbling around to get out herself.

"You're kidding, right?" Anna said to Erika over comms, looking like she was expecting her to say she was joking. "No, I'm not getting involved in your little sibling spat. That's a family issue."

" _If it is for me, then it is for you, too,_ " the blonde answered back. The Austro-Bavarian looked to retort, but Erika continued before she could. " _I know you're Bruno's sister. It's obvious. Don't insult me by saying otherwise. I don't know what exactly happened between you two, but we have more serious problems at hand that require our attention._ "

 _Come take our hand  
Together we stand  
Defending our glorious land_

While Erika _did_ have a point, Anna still hated the idea of having to directly undermine her brother. The two Novat twins had a complex relationship with each other. As young kids, they were very close and did everything together. But as they grew up, they started breaking away from each other as Bruno's isolation and distancing of himself ramped up, which resulted from how everybody gravitated towards Anna. She had always been more beloved by everybody, while it was the opposite for Bruno in that almost nobody liked him compared to how many liked his sister.

The perceived favoritism grew to the point where he eventually just snapped and gave a big 'screw you' to the family by disassociating himself from them completely, choosing to instead go attend Schwarzwaldspitze rather than sticking beside Anna. Six years later, none of which saw _any_ contact between the siblings, and here they were. Though she initially had no idea what brought on the change in her brother, over the years Anna had thought about it deeply and realized that it was her fault in a way. She had never noticed how unfair it felt to him for her to get all the favor and him getting nothing.

Erika's implication to Anna was like asking her to give yet another reason for her brother to hate her. Finally, Anna sighed, "Oh, what the hell, we're practically fighting for our lives anyway." In the end, she knew she had to fight for victory anyway, as, like Erika said, there was so much more at stake. Namely, the continued survival of their home. "Fine, I'm in. Happy?"

 _Facing the storm  
Battered and torn  
Fighting for our glorious home_

It was just the two of them still in the air for Ooarai. While there were only two still in the air for Schwarzwaldspitze as well, the two still remaining were some of the Germans' most elite. Helmine Bimmel was not particularly special in her talents as a pilot, but the fact she actually was a pilot this time around made Erika a little nervous, as during the time she knew her, Helmine had not been one. So she didn't really know her as an opponent, which opened the way to potentially nasty surprises. The other remaining pilot on the German side was Isabel-Justina Hartmann, who needed no introduction for her own abilities.

Down on the ground, only two tanks were still up: Ooarai's _Panzer_ IV H and Schwarzwaldspitze's _Tiger_ H1. And they were both in the middle of a fast-paced duel through tight residential streets. Now, the lighter _Panzer_ was in a little hideaway waiting to jump back out to catch the heavier _Panzer_ by surprise.

"And…" the vibrant brunette _Panzerkommandeur_ prepared to give the order to his crew and begin his plan. However, several seconds passed where nothing happened, killing the moment. "… Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't time that right."

Soon, however, he heard the telltale sound of the Tiger's Maybach HL 230 V12. It was perhaps best described as a roar that was smooth as silk.

"And… NOW!" Manfred ordered, which signaled Makoto to floor it in reverse. The _Panzer_ IV rammed straight into the _Tiger_ I, which had its turret turned to face them during the approach, anticipating an adversary where they were. But the ram had caught the heavy tank by surprise, and the _Schürzen_ on the _Panzer_ IV did their job when the _Tiger's_ HE shot flew towards it, absorbing the blow with no damage to the tank itself.

 _Come take our hand  
Together we stand  
Defending our glorious land_

" _You do realize you'd have to be the best pilot in the entire world to defeat her, right?_ " Anna saw fit to point out at one point in the midst of the aerial battle.

"Well, luckily for us," Erika started as she pulled up and looped back around to the action, focusing on Isabel's actions and waiting for the opportunity to strike, "I am."

" _Oh, so modest!_ " the Austro-Bavarian quipped back before they both went silent to focus on fighting.

Said fight consisted of many head-on engagements due to how similar both sides' aircraft were. Anna flew an Fw 190 D-12 and Helmine flew the nearly-identical Fw 190 D-13, while Erika had her Bf 109 K-4 and Isabel had her Bf 109 G-6, both similar enough that any dogfight between them came down to pilot skill.

Down on the ground, Manfred had been chased down by Michael for a long time now. Yet he was no closer to escaping. So he chose to head back to the campus square. The chasing _Tiger_ fired a shot, which missed partially due to Makoto's driving, and that was when Manfred found his opportunity. "Drive back around onto their flank!" he ordered.

During the time it took for the _Panzer_ IV to line up a clear shot on the _Tiger's_ side, the heavy tank had already reloaded and had its gun aimed directly at the lighter tank. But it was now or never, and Manfred decided anyway to command, "Fire!"

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author does not claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **The music used belongs to**_ **Sabaton.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


	152. Kapitel 27,6,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-sechs: Zufälligkeit**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Wörtlich Schwanzjagen**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

' _Hello! And welcome to the middle of bumfuck-nowhere! Population: me, and whichever of you idiots still want to stay with me after this sentence._ '

Today's order was that of a dachshund – with dark-colored fur all over – thinking to itself. If possible, it would definitely try and talk to itself, but because it was a dog – and dogs don't have the ability to speak intelligibly – ' _Hey, you take that back, asshole!_ ' – correction: can't physically speak through no fault of its own, but still has the speech of a sailor – it suited it best to keep its thoughts to itself if it didn't want the author to intervene.

' _Jeez, you just wanna suck the joy outta everythin'. But_ _ **thank you**_ _for finally bein' quiet and lettin' me speak!_ ' The dark-furred dachshund glanced up at the skies as it idly walked about, full of its own unique mood. ' _But anyway, back to what I wanted to say… Actually, I forgot what I wanted to say… Dammit… Well, then I'll talk about somethin' else! Like the weather! The weather is_ _ **beautiful**_ _today! Sunny skies, not a single cloud in sight, and that perfect temperature! Not too hot, and not too cold!_ '

Curiously watching the hound from nearby was a small, ginger child. The physical appearance of her highly resembled the likeness of St Gloriana's Orange Pekoe. To leave it simple, she could be called Mini-Pekoe.

The small child was captivated by the gallivanting dachshund, and not just because it looked funny. It exuded an aura of happiness to her, which was what drove her to physically approach the hound out of curiosity.

' _Hm, who's this?_ ' The dachshund saw her grow a huge smile in response to how it didn't run away from her at first glance. Its uniquely sky blue eyes widened upon making the connection of what was about to happen next. ' _Oh, shit._ '

It was only just barely that the hound managed to evade the overextending embrace of the little ginger by juking to the side. It then tried to run, with Mini-Pekoe following after it as she refused to accept defeat. ' _Hey, no! Don't frickin' try an' strangle me, ya damn humie!_ '

After a small chase ensued, it ended when the dog saw another small girl cut it off up ahead. ' _Oh, great. Now there's_ _ **two**_ _of 'em!_ '

This little girl bore a strong resemblance to Darjeeling with her braided blonde hair, so just call her Mini-Darjee. Just go with it. Anyway, she was also holding out a hand, as if she was ready to snag the dog as it ran past.

That action was what made the dachshund stop, rather. Looking back quickly, it saw how Mini-Pekoe was still behind him, now stopped and ready to pounce on the hound. ' _Ah, shit…_ ' Looking back forward, it noticed Mini-Darjee holding something in her other hand, something big enough to be slung over her shoulder-

' _BONE! BONE! BONE! WOW, that's a massive frickin' bone!_ ' The hound immediately averted its gaze onto the gigantic bone slung over Mini-Darjee's shoulder, panting excitedly and making it no secret how much it wanted the bone. The small blonde child waved it once with her hand, side-to-side, and the dog's gaze followed. Then she started waving it in a vertical direction, inviting the dachshund to stand and sit as it was waved.

' _Come on, come on. Gimme the damn bone, humie…_ ' Soon enough, Mini-Darjee chucked the big bone up into the air towards the dog. In answer, the dachshund jumped up to snatch it out of the air with its teeth, clamping down on the middle of the bone.

' _YES! Oh man, this is the tastiest bone I've ever chewed!_ ' Then the hound began chewing it in earnest, curling back up on the ground and savoring the treat. ' _Wow, did I just enter the gates of Valhalla just now? Because this bone tastes like it's from a God!_ '

Both Mini-Pekoe and Mini-Darjee closed with the dachshund, sitting beside it and petting it. The dog was too lost in paradise to even care.

Until they then started mounting it like they were trying to ride a horse.

' _Huh? Hey, hey, wait! Your fat butts ain't gonna fit on me!_ ' The hound, not too kindly, began bucking trying to force the pair of them off. It wasn't very difficult, as the two little girls hadn't thought of getting a better grip.

That didn't stop the pair from trying to chase after the dog again, forcing it to dash off, too fast for the girls to keep up. ' _No, it's not cool to get help! Walk by yourselves, ya little gargoyles!_ '

Mini-Pekoe and Mini-Darjee could only watch as the dachshund ran away from them, too fast for them to keep up with. Both of them were incredibly put out by how mean the hound acted. They just wanted to play a game of horsey with it. Was that too much to ask for?

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the dark-furred dachshund chose to take itself on a walk. It was a walk in both the traditional sense of going for a stroll, and a 'walk' as it would pertain to a dog.

Meaning… it was doing 'the business.'

' _Hey, piss off, ya creeper! You don't see_ _ **me**_ _invadin' your privacy when you're takin' a shit, do ya!?_ '

No, but people _do_ see you drinking out of the places they shit in.

' _Oh, you're just the biggest asshole I've ever met._ ' The hound soon moved on, away from the literal steaming pile of shit it left behind and continued to stroll about. ' _But I do so enjoy goin' out for a nice little stroll. The sun's shinin', I can hear birds whistlin', the breeze feels nice, it's just a perfect day._ '

A rogue tennis ball bounced across its path, and, acting on its fetching instinct, the dachshund quickly snatched it up in its jaw.

Little footsteps approached as if in a sprint. ' _Oh great, I've already got a bad feelin' about this._ ' The hound turned its head to see who had come this time.

It wasn't necessarily wrong to think what it did, because like before, there were two small girls. One of them bore a resemblance to Pepperoni with her short dark hair and overly hyper attitude, so just call her Mini-Peppa. The other appeared more like Anchovy with her long light hair, glasses, and more subdued demeanor. Mini-Chovy would work for a name. Just bear with it, guys.

' _Yup, I was right, alright._ ' The dachshund chose to none-too-kindly spit the ball out in the direction of the two small girls before turning to walk off. ' _Frickin' brats, man. They always wanna grope ya and slobber over ya like animals._ '

… You _do_ realize the irony in that statement, right? Please tell me you do…

' _No, I don't. And I'd appreciate if you didn't sidetrack me by trying to spell it out for me._ '

Thinking quickly to avoid having the cute doggy walk away, Mini-Chovy quickly came up with the idea to throw the tennis ball as hard as she could in the direction of the hound. Not directly at it, but throwing in such a way that the ball would sail above it, within its line of sight.

' _BALL! BALL! Gotta get the damn ball!_ ' It worked, as the dachshund immediately acted on instinct and took off after the ball at top speed to fetch it.

Upon bringing it back, the hound didn't hesitate to plop it down before Mini-Chovy's feet. It wagged its tail happily, which was the little Italian girl's cue to throw it again seeing as it was ready to play fetch again.

As the hound ran to fetch the ball again, it couldn't help but think. ' _Wait, wasn't I just about to scram from these losers?_ ' It was on its way back with the ball in its mouth when it decided. ' _Eh, I guess it don't matter. I can do whatever the Hel I want, and ain't nobody gonna stop me from otherwise._ '

And so began a lengthy game of fetch for the dachshund as it whimsically fell into its basest instincts.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Mini-Chovy, Mini-Peppa!" Carpaccio called out some time later from a distance. She had a dinner bell with her and proceeded to ring it a few times. "Dinner time!"

As quick as lightning, the two little Italian girls got up from where they were previously seated on the grass petting the hound. "Ah, it's gotten so late!" Mini-Peppa noted with wide eyes as she dragged Mini-Chovy behind her by the hand. "Come on, Chovy!"

Being the lesser of the two when it came to words, Mini-Chovy had really nothing to say. She did, however, join her friend in waving back to the dachshund. " _Ciao, Signor Cane!_ " both of them said a farewell together, also, to Mr. Dog, as they chose to name it.

The hound's tail drooped as it slowly stood up, tennis ball grasped in its teeth. ' _Never thought I'd say it, but I'm kinda sad to see 'em go now… Those brats were actually pretty fun… Ah, well. Maybe I'll see 'em again._ '

Looking around to try and find something else to do, the dog found pretty much nothing left for it to do. ' _I've already taken my shit, which was my whole point in comin' out here in the first place. I also had some fun, which wasn't planned but I'll take it…_ '

It spat out the tennis ball a distance away and started trying to chase its tail. ' _Ah, screw it. I'm just gonna chase my tail now. That's always fun. And I will get ya this time, ya damn tail! YA HEAR ME!? I WILL GET YA!_ '

After some time spent chasing its tail, the hound heard a sharp whistle pierce the air. Its body immediately snapped rigid and with its snoot pointed in the direction of the sound's origin. The source of the whistle was-

' _Oh man, what's the Charming Blonde Prince of the Skies doin' here?_ ' The dachshund tilted its head to the side to study the newcomer in all his easygoing glory.

"Hey, what's a nice guy like you doing out here at this time of night, huh?" Erich-Dietrich Hartmann spoke with a soothing voice and an equally-disarming smile as he approached. The blonde German ultra-ace was quite fond of dogs, so oftentimes whenever he found a dog, he usually stuck around and spent some time with them, whether it be playing around or helping it piss off all the other nearby animals or something equally immature.

Coming to a stop and kneeling in front of the cooperative dark-furred dachshund, Erich noticed its unusual eyes. They were sky blue. "I have to say," he began, reaching out to pet it, "your eyes are just stunning."

' _Oh, this'll be good._ ' The hound internally grinned in mischief at what it knew was about to happen as soon as the blonde touched it.

"I've never seen any like them before," Erich finished up his previous comment. It did strike him as odd that such eyes were on this dog, as it was just completely unnatural as far as he knew.

At the moment his hand met the dog's head, a white light shimmered around its body, covering it like a curtain and blinding Erich for the moment.

When his sight returned, he found himself still kneeling, but now his hand was resting against the cheek of an adolescent girl, looking about his age if he guessed right, with short blonde hair and those exact same blue eyes he had only moments ago seen on the dachshund. Said girl was on her hands and knees, and that's when Erich began noticing a few more details about her.

One was her hair. Two locks of it had their tips tinged in the same dark color as the dachshund's fur was. Also, he noticed a tail – the same as that of a dachshund – poking out of the small of her back. The other detail he noticed was how she was wearing the Ooarai girls' uniform.

When he brought his gaze back to her, he noticed she appeared a little disoriented like she was just waking up, but that cleared up pretty quickly. When she made eye contact with him, a brief second of unrecognition passed before she made the 'oh shit' face.

Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann was cursing her familiar six ways to Sunday in her head, where he was currently laughing his tail off. Damn her familiar for exploiting the broken rules of interactions between dimensional counterparts. He _knew_ he had to turn control back to her if it was her will, but just being touched by a dimensional counterpart could also throw her back in control, even if she herself wasn't ready for it. This was why she couldn't trust him having free reign, because then shit like this happened where she ended up face-to-face in an extremely awkward situation with someone she recognized was basically another version of _her._ The blue eyes and short blonde hair plus the facial structure told her so.

The awkwardness was magnified when she recognized the position they were in, with her on her knees and him with his hand on her face and both of their faces close enough to each other to be uncomfortable. It could be seen as an intimate position, which made her feel even more awkward knowing that this was basically herself she was close to. It was a really difficult feeling to describe for her. It was beyond being Twilight Zone-like. Perhaps 'the awkward situation to top all awkward situations' could aptly describe it.

When she refocused on his gaze, she saw the gears start turning in his head again. She couldn't let him figure out that she was basically another dimension's version of him, otherwise it would have vast consequences.

So, her right hand quickly shot up to grasp his temple. What somewhat surprised her was how quick his reaction time was, as when she made her move, his left hand – currently free unlike his right still against her face – had begun moving to intercept. But then again, he was basically her, so it wasn't _that_ surprising he was as quick in reacting as she was.

Upon her hand grasping his temple, white tendrils of light surfaced from each of her fingers, washing over his head as she used a flicker of magic – ' _ **Seidr!**_ _Get the term right, Erika!_ ' she could practically hear Loki insistently correcting her even now – to manipulate his nervous system just enough to make him fall asleep.

It worked, as Erich collapsed against Erika, now in a deep sleep. Had she been any slower in doing the job, his arm would've reached hers and likely pried it away.

Getting up on her knees to support the weight of him against her, she looked around for anywhere she could go to get them both out of the public eye. She found an alley that looked pretty unpopular, so she stood up and dragged Erich's limp body there.

When she finally got them both off the streets, Erika slumped down against the wall, letting Erich's head sit in her lap. She took a moment to just observe… _herself,_ in a weird cosmic sort of sense. Because how often did anyone get to study another version of themselves so up-close?

"I _definitely_ have the better hair," she noted first, idly tracing one of her fingers along his facial features. It was rougher and more masculine than hers, yet… "But I don't know, he _may_ have a nicer face." She shrugged noncommittedly. "I guess it depends on taste." Another shrug. "Or sexual orientation." Yet another shrug. "Or both."

She let out a breath, "Okay, enough messing around." She gripped his temple again and closed her eyes, her hand again glowing a faint white light as she let her magic – ' _ **Seidr,**_ _Erika…_ ' – thrust her consciousness into his own. Inside his head, she started looking through his memories – ' _Ho, wow, now_ _ **that's**_ _a real mess…_ ' she observed upon seeing his side of the room he shared with a friend, which was just _filthy_ – to figure out where to send him to in order for his memories to maintain continuity as much as possible.

Finally, she got it. It was lucky for her that his last memory before here was heading to sleep several hours ago, which meant in theory she could send him back just when it was reaching morning and hopefully he would interpret everything he just saw as simply being a very strange dream.

Set on that idea, her consciousness broke out of his head and fled back into her own body. Then, before she could lose the image of where she wanted to send him, she opened a portal directly on him to the room and shoved him through it sideways, to the right. Visually, it all looked similar to a black hole opening up spontaneously with him in the center of it, and having it collapse almost immediately, taking him back to the destination she had in mind.

Standing back up as her white light faded, Erika dusted her hands off. "Crisis averted," she said to herself with a smile. She then dropped the grin and brought her finger to her lips in a curious expression. "Though I could have been quicker in doing it…" She shrugged it off. "Oh well. I still did it."

With her job done, she decided it was time to head back to her own dimension. A white light glowed around her body as she closed her eyes and summoned her _seidr_ – ' _ **Finally,**_ _you get it right._ ' – focusing it and building it up in preparation to launch herself back home.

There were a few forms of transport available to her as a sorceress. She did know how to physically draw portals, but she found the collapsing wormhole method to be much more convenient, seeing as it was instant. Plus, that was the first form of transport she was taught, so it stuck.

The only downside to that method was that she had to have her destination in mind beforehand, otherwise she could end up somewhere bad, like underground or in the vacuum of space. With a physical portal that wasn't the case, as she could, in a way, look before she leapt.

So that was why she was taking the time needed now to make sure she got her destination right. Add to that how dimensional travel complicated things more and it meant Erika basically had about a twelve-percent chance of actually getting where she wanted. She was still fresh in the world of _seidr,_ so, having not done this too often as of yet, she was sure to check all of her bases before casting. If she didn't, the consequences could be disastrous.

' _Gather energy and command open wormhole to home, then immediately step sideways upon portal collapse seven times to the left, then immediately ground my seidr to halt the dimensional hopping,_ ' she ran through her list of what to do one more time.

It was important she get the exact number of jumps through dimensions correct – to reach her destination – and immediately ground herself. Not correctly stepping sideways through the portal, she was liable to either simply transport to that same place in the present dimension, or fall out of the dimensional chain into the vastness of the Multiverse. If she didn't ground herself after exactly that number of jumps, or even did it too early, then she could keep going through the dimensions and miss her intended destination, perhaps even reaching the Dark Dimension. By principle she wasn't one to trust someone whose name was Doctor Strange, but the one piece of his advice she _would_ take heed to was that she did _not_ want to run into Dormammu, the absolute ruler of the Dark Dimension and able to manipulate absolutely everything within said dimension, an unequalled level of power. If even _Loki_ was stressing that to her with his millennium of experience in the art, then chances were high it was pretty important she pay heed.

' _Aaaaand… NOW!_ ' Upon her thought, she immediately finished the cast and thrust herself through a wormhole that collapsed almost immediately after opening, taking her through the process of dimension hopping. Hopefully she landed in the right one.

XXXXXXXXXX

After having a wondrous breakfast for herself, Miho Nishizumi finally decided to address the elephant in the room. That is, she decided to finally go and _try_ to wake up Erich. It was never easy, and with her experience on the matter, she didn't expect it to be.

"Hey! _Bubi!_ " she called out, sure to use a loud voice. When she caught sight of him still in deep sleep, she frowned. "Of course it doesn't work like that," she muttered, seeing she had made no difference with her first attempt.

She sighed, "Fine, I guess I'll try option two." She walked up to the bed, with a plan to literally drag him out of it this time.

But before she could reach it, her best friend shot up, wide awake, and yelled, "PISS OFF, GHOST!"

That stopped Miho in her tracks, because, ' _What the devil?_ ' was her only line of thought as to what just happened. Her face accurately represented that thought train, as well.

In Erich's mind, he was reliving that experience with that girl he met in… _was_ it in his dream? He could've sworn everything felt real. But that girl he met, he was now wary of her, because what kind of sorcery was _that?_ He didn't know how to explain it besides one minute he was petting a handsome dachshund, and the next he had this girl in front of him in its place. And she sparkled. So his line of thought with that whole mess was, ' _What is this, I don't even…_ '

In the end, he decided to say screw it and assume it was just a dream, because it was too fucking early in the morning to think. He spotted Miho just standing there with something akin to a 'what the fuck' expression.

"Oh, morning Miho, what's going on?" Erich greeted her with an easy smile.

It was so nonchalant how the blonde said it that the vibrant brunette just stood there for a few extra seconds wondering what the fuck just happened. It was like someone flipped a switch in him, with him shooting up out of a deep sleep telling some ghost to piss off followed almost immediately after by such a normal-sounding greeting, like nothing had happened.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author does not claim to own "Girls und Panzer," Doctor Strange, Dormammu, this interpretation of Loki, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Actas.** _ **Doctor Strange, Dormammu, and this interpretation of Loki all belong to**_ **Marvel.** _ **Any references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_

 _ **Lastly, rest in peace Stan Lee, all-powerful creator of the Marvel universe. You will always be The Man! EXCELSIOR!**_


	153. Kapitel 27,6,2

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-sechs: Zufälligkeit**_

 _ **Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Letzte stehend**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _(I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

Isabel-Justina Hartmann hammered her left fist into the floorboard of her living room as hard as she could, a guttural scream echoing from her as she did. Her punch was hard enough to leave the majority of her fingers broken. But even though that pain was great – and it was, make no mistake, she had a hard punch – it paled in comparison to the heart-wrenching hole in her chest.

Finding out that she had unknowingly been the cause for her sister's choice to run away and leave Schwarzwaldspitze without a trace had destroyed her. It gave her a massive urge to inflict as much pain as possible on herself, believing she deserved every second of it for being such a blind and ignorant moron.

 _Who lost control! (Control!)_  
 _But in the end I'll be the last one standing!_

Across the globe, meanwhile, in the bowels of the _Zuikaku,_ Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann was completely wasted, having drunk bottle after bottle of beer to try and just numb herself to the raw feeling of betrayal. And it still wasn't enough. It was times like that when she really hated her acquired tolerance to alcohol; being a full-blood German, drinking came as natural to her as breathing.

So, with a grunt, she chucked the last bottle she had drunk against the steel walls of the massive school ship's lower decks, the bottle smashing and shattering into a million pieces, before heaving herself up and choosing to explore the bowels of the ship. It gave her something to do and distract herself with, hopefully to just ignore the whirlwind of feelings inside her.

 _(I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

She was in her element here. War raged all around the _Graf Zeppelin,_ but this time, it was important to not inflict casualties. Her objective was merely to disarm. Her long, black hair almost became too much of a nuisance with how quickly she was moving; she was a flash of silver and wine red, her one-of-a-kind double-bladed sword swinging faster than could be reacted to as it disarmed combatants of their weapons left and right, and her accompanying shield deflecting bullets with not even a scratch to its surface.

"STOP THIS!" Sif yelled out, having just finished incapacitating the majority of the warring members of Schwarzwaldspitze's Arts of Warfare programs around the hangars and standing between the rest. Her icy blue eyes were filled with a burning spirit unique to her ilk. "STOP THIS NOW!"

After a few tense seconds in which Asgard's Goddess of War was ready to jump into her dance again, the divided students of Schwarzwaldspitze slowly lowered their weapons. Her effortless subduing of literally hundreds of shooters was enough for everyone there to have some fear her, but Sif couldn't care less about being feared. She just needed these children to stop fighting, because they were much more dangerous than even she could've thought. They had inadvertently shot down the jet she was in, making it collateral damage in their spat.

 _Whose soul is sold! (Is sold!)  
_ _Forever gone to be the last one standing taaaaaaaaaall!_

In the depths of Hel, the queen of the realm – with piercing emerald green eyes, raven black hair currently transformed into a complex headdress resembling sharpened antlers, a skin-tight suit with green accents matching her eyes, a long emerald green cape, and some special black heeled boots using a full-length sole along the bottom rather than a stilt like regular heels – lifted her left arm, donned with the all-powerful and fit-to-all-sizes Infinity Gauntlet loaded with all six Infinity Stones, and snapped her fingers.

The commands she gave to the Stones were all carried out in a flash: most notable of the commands were rolling back the clock and erasing from existence from that point on everyone pointed out to her by the Zehoberei woman – Gamora, that was her name – as being affiliated with the big purple scrotum-head, erasing the big purple scrotum-head himself from existence from that point on in time, and lastly, turning the Stones' power against each other, having them destroy each other along with the Gauntlet. Because such power should never have been brought into existence in the first place.

But Hela would never say that was why she eliminated it. Rather, after recovering from the immense pain of unleashing such power, she doubled down on saying, "I do not need such a tool to conquer the cosmos. I can do it all by myself." Looking down at herself, however, the Goddess of Death was met with a surprise: her body had de-aged to that of adolescence. But she didn't freak out. She merely sighed of exhaustion, "So _that_ is why it hurt so badly. I should have known the Stones would not go away quietly. Now I get _this_ as a permanent reminder of the time Thanos the would-be God came to my eternal prison, _begging_ me to free his favorite daughter from _her_ eternal prison even though it was his doing that put her there. _And_ he stole from me souls that were rightfully mine." She blew a raspberry out of disgust. "What an ass. He is no better than Odin." She shook her head out of annoyance and opened an interdimensional portal leading out of Hel.

 _Glorious_  
 _Noble in my mind_  
 _Everything I fight to win_

Out of all the adolescents that had shot at Sif, the one she was perhaps most intrigued by was the one with the broken hand. Isabel, she believed her name was. While the Warrior Goddess had single-handedly put an end to what she learned was practically a civil war, it was Isabel who had to build her people back up. And she was doing it marvelously. It was a thankless job, one that Sif couldn't help but respect upon understanding it went with the drive Isabel had to achieve victory on the battlefield.

"Who are you?" Isabel all but interrogated her afterwards, having taken her aside to her apartment. She was incredibly wary of Sif initially because of her voice: highly refined yet with a Nordic tilt to it plus an element of otherworldliness. And that made her nervous about this woman, because the last person she had come into contact with that had a similar way of speaking – Loki – had tried to kill her sister as a child. "Where are you from?"

"I am Sif." Normally, she would introduce herself as 'Lady' Sif, but that title had fallen from glory after her banishment, and it just felt wrong and utterly ignoble to refer to herself as such anymore. The Goddess paused a bit, before continuing with resignation of her current status, " _Formerly_ of Asgard."

In the bowels of the _Zuikaku,_ Erika gaped and sobered immediately when a flash of dark light emerged out of nowhere, and out from it flew a body that slammed into the floor. After getting her vision back, she rushed up to the quickly going-limp body, discovering it to be a teenage girl with this weird-but-kind-of-cool skin-tight black suit with green accents. But the strangest part was how the entire left side of her body immediately decayed, as if that entire half of her had just died; blackened skin and black hair turning to a lifeless white on that side only. The other half of her, however, was absolutely flawless.

It was the strangest sight in her short life – and she had already seen some pretty weird shit – but that moral part of her that she tried to suppress was clawing its way back up in her, to get her to help this being – whoever she was – who was utterly helpless at present and looked hurt in more ways than one. She could've sworn during that moment of brief consciousness that this girl had said, "…Frigga…?" She had no idea what the hell that was, but it was so vulnerable how she said it that it immediately tugged at her. She hesitated in indecision before finally sighing and picking her up. Just to stay safe, she kept the flawless side of her closest to her, because the other side kind of grossed her out at present.

When Hela woke up, it was with a jump, having sensed someone looming over her. Without hesitation, she summoned a small dagger-sized version of her go-to Necrosword and leapt at the offender.

"WHOA, WHOA! _WHOA!_ " Erika jumped back across the room to evade. "HEY, I'm not here to hurt you!" Her words earned her a dagger thrown in her direction, which she barely avoided, and it embedded itself into the wall. "HEY, please stop, I just got this place and it's actually nicer than I thought it would be, so can you _please!?_ "

Hela, finally reacquiring her senses, stopped upon comprehending she had been asleep for an indeterminate amount of time in some very modest yet not especially tidy chambers. She looked around. "This place is filthy," were her famous first words to the blonde.

"Well, that's-uh-but…" Erika fumbled for an explanation before finally giving up. "… I mean, you're right. I was never one for cleanliness…"

 _Taking all and giving_  
 _Whatever my pride would let me_  
 _Not backing down_  
 _Not giving in_

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sif posed a question to Isabel while idly sharpening her double-bladed sword with a whetstone. "Your actions could easily be misinterpreted."

Isabel paused, as if to quickly rethink, studying the Goddess of War for a second before saying resolutely, "I won't know unless I try."

From what little Sif knew of Isabel, she could tell she was a prideful young woman who had just had the rug pulled out from under her in the most painful way. She wasn't necessarily forsaking her pride with her actions now, but more like she was pointing said pride in a different direction, a more positive one. The Warrior Goddess smiled in approval, "You speak true."

Though she did often take off to perform assorted missions for the son of Coul in other places, Sif ended up coming back to the _Graf Zeppelin_ every time. She really enjoyed being around Isabel and helping her out. After all, this wasn't the first sibling rivalry blown out of proportion that she had witnessed. She knew not to enable anything this time around.

Idly, she wondered if this was what Thor had meant when he said the mortals had something special to them. Being around these people made many of her own problems look ridiculous and vain by comparison. She realized she just had to get over them and move on.

On the other side of the world, Hela was back to normal-looking for a teenage girl – recasting the illusion covering her rotten half, gained via courtesy of Surtur, took care of that; though the penalty the abusive use of the Gauntlet gave was permanent, forcing her to remain at that younger age physically – but it left her wondering what the point was in coming to Midgard. Originally, she had wanted to start there for her conquest due to Asgard no longer existing, but now she just… _couldn't._ Not after this girl, Erika, had shown her such kindness without expecting anything in return, even after that... ' _memorable_ ' first meeting. The only other person to ever do the same was her mother. She just didn't back down or give up on her.

"Wait, wait, wait," Erika waved her hands to interrupt her. "You're actually _related_ to Loki?" That prospect honestly terrified her. She still had nightmares of that scepter's glowing blue light and the God's cold smile.

Hela tilted her head, wondering if there was a story there, but she decided to answer honestly, "Yes. And Thor. But they are both pathetic little shits." Erika just sat there, stunned at hearing Loki referred to in such dismissive terms, as if he was insignificant. She kind of wanted to laugh at it.

Things grew more complicated when an old friend of Erika's showed up. Hela then found out the blonde girl had many more problems than she could've imagined her possibly having, among those victimization and a burning hatred for her own blood. If she had been her old self, the Goddess of Death would've exploited that for her own gain, but now she just couldn't. She hated seeing this kind, fun, and big-hearted girl so cold and distant. She realized with a start that she actually _cared_ about someone finally, someone who wasn't her mother. Well, okay, stepmother to be technical, but she still called her 'Mother.'

 _I wouldn't lose, I couldn't die! (I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

Isabel had given herself an ultimatum: don't lose, or die. In a very meta sense, it was true to her. She just couldn't bear the thought of never seeing her sister again; the feeling would've been comparable to losing a piece of herself. Growing up as children, the way they settled their differences way by fighting. This here was the same thing, just on a much larger scale.

Over the skies of Japan, she was at one with her fighter. She preferred the Bf 109 just because she had flown it exclusively ever since she learned how to fly in combat. It was why she could go in and take out almost fifty A6Ms all on her own, because she had grown to the point where her 109 was an extension of herself.

 _Who lost control! (Control!)_  
 _But in the end I'll be the last one standing!_

Over the Hawaiian Islands, Erika was very much the same way. The biggest difference, though, was how she was just a loose cannon against the Americans. Saunders was more prepared for her this year than last year over Belgium, so it was not anywhere nearly as easy for her to take them down.

That didn't mean she couldn't take them all on by herself. No, she did. And she performed admirably. She held her own in five-to-one odds, and still got the upper hand over Saunders. It made it easier for the rest of her _Staffel_ to go support the ground war, which threw a wrench in the Americans' stratagem. In the end, Erika wasn't concerned with winning or not, because in her mind she was going to win anyway. Saunders was just another step in the path to the top.

 _(I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

While in Japan, Sif dipped through a side street, having heard the increasingly-familiar-to-her sound of guns firing. When she zoned in on the source, she saw several people had one man taken down and were savagely beating him, with some of them, including the victim, bleeding still from what she assumed were gunshot wounds.

Without thinking, she slid her shield and sword off her back into her left hand, assuming this was the 'unnecessary mess' the son of Coul had wanted her to take care of. Upon hearing steps close with them, the sketchy-looking natives – they resembled thieves to her, though she later learned they were often called Yakuza – looked up at her, stopping momentarily.

"Hello!" Sif chirped up cheerily as she drew her sword from its sheath within the shield, following it up by summoning the second blade, extending from the bottom of the hilt to create her double-bladed sword. Then, it was a whirlwind of action. Though there were guns used against her – which had hardly any effect with how small in caliber they were and with how durable the Goddess of War was – she also engaged in sword fights, and she walked away learning that this region of Midgard had some capable sword fighters.

After the entire street was trashed with bodies and weapons and blood, all Derrick Faul had to say to the sword-wielding woman who took that entire gang of bastards down, was, "Oh come on, I had them!"

Sif chuckled, already deciding she liked this guy. "Is that why you are losing blood?" she retorted with mirth as she sheathed her sword's second blade, then sheathed her sword into its place on her shield and put the assembly on her back. She then helped him up. "Let us go. I think you would not enjoy dying here."

"Does anyone?" Derrick muttered. The Warrior Goddess let out a hearty laugh in answer.

 _Whose soul is sold! (Is sold!)_  
 _Forever gone to be the last one standing taaaaaaaaaall!_

Hela had really paid a price in not just her physical body, but also her energy levels from using the Infinity Gauntlet as she had. But that was _not_ permanent, as now she had recovered her lost energy and was back to her usual levels. One of the first things she did was summon one of her Necroswords – of full sword-length this time, not that puny little dagger-sized one from at first – and cut through the wall of Erika's chambers to create a doorway connecting hers and her friend's chambers.

She didn't think it was a good idea for Erika to forsake the boy's – Manfred's – longstanding friendship with her just because. She may not have experienced it the way the blonde did, but the Goddess could see that avoiding each other was hurting Erika, even if it was what she insisted she wanted. Hence, her bold and blunt initiative with the crude doorway.

"So… you can summon weapons…" the blonde girl started off in what she pictured was to be an awkward conversation. She had never asked anything out of Hela before, but after seeing what she could do… well, she didn't want to take advantage, but she had to admit the girl had some useful abilities to her.

"… Yes…?" the Death Goddess confirmed, raising an eyebrow. Why was she stating the obvious? Hela just wanted her to get to the point, already.

"Well, the thing is… Um, well first off, it's pretty damn cool, to start with. I mean, just… why bother dealing with people you don't like when you can just, throw axes into their guts? It-It's nothing though. Wait, I-I mean, it's _not_ nothing, but-" Erika fumbled around, but Hela cut her off, exasperated.

"Just get to your point, darling." The death Goddess soon discovered that this colossal ship of education – which also bred warriors in a way – wasn't the most well-funded, so munitions were hard to come by. Hela, having her millennia of experience with weapons crafting, could help out by making those munitions for them. She took up Erika's offer, secretly pleased to have a purpose once again, even as menial as it was.

It was interesting to her, dissecting these weapons and learning their intricacies. Before her thousand-plus years of imprisonment, these kinds of projectile weapons weren't terribly common, and often had more faults than virtues. But now, they were the standard. She became, in Erika's words, something of a weapons nerd, growing fascinated about every little thing with them.

 _I walk alone_  
 _With my head held high_  
 _Never felt that I belonged_

"When you have lived as long as I, you experience much," Sif told Isabel one night, when neither could sleep all that well. "Right now, I think about Loki. You know him as a monster, and that is what his actions said of him, you are not wrong. But he…" Sif had to pause to avoid choking up, because as much as she hated him then, she was still torn apart by Loki's death a few years back. She shook her head to clear it. "But at the same time… I knew him. I knew him before all of that. Probably better than anyone else, even his brother."

The younger of the two grew intrigued. Loki was, and always will be, someone she hated with a burning passion, but she was still curious to hear about the other side of things. "And?" she prompted the Warrior Goddess.

Sif let out a mournful sigh. "I still remember when we were both children, brought together by circumstance," she told. "We were both outcasts growing up in Asgard: I was a girl who wanted to be a warrior, a role viewed by society as being a man's role; and Loki, he was a boy who wanted to become the greatest sorcerer in the Nine, but Asgard usually looked down on sorcery and _seidr_ as being for women. We were both endlessly mocked growing up, for our queerness and silliness, as they called it. So, we naturally gravitated toward one another, and he became my friend. My _best_ friend."

"My place in Asgard was to be her greatest weapon," Hela related to Erika one night on the long open-air hallway before their chambers. "And I was. I had drowned entire civilizations in blood and tears. But I was nothing more than that. I was only taught to fight, only bred to kill. I never had anyone even remotely resembling friends, because Odin thought it pointless to teach a weapon how to mingle in social affairs. But what I hated, absolutely _hated,_ the most, was how I had always tried to please him, and yet it was all for nothing. I was merely a weapon to him. He never accepted me as anything more than that. And when that weapon no longer worked right for him, he threw me down to Hel, and caged me. Locked me away like an animal, his own flesh and blood."

Now, Erika knew that everybody had daddy issues at some point. It was a part of growing up, after all. But _this?_ These were some _serious_ daddy issues. She could scarcely imagine anything like that happening to her.

"When I finally broke free upon his death, I was ready to take the throne as the heir and bring Asgard true glory once more," Hela continued, her real off-kilter attitude showing fully. "But… they did not even remember me." She scowled hard in memory of the ceiling mural of lies. "Odin completely erased me from history, covered everything up." She summoned a dagger and slammed it into the railing. "As if I had never existed. And then my brothers, brothers I had never known I even _had._ Just the fact both of them existed at all was enough to utterly _piss me off._ They were both meant to replace _me,_ and they were both so willing to carry out Odin's will. They _were_ Odin's sons, and I _hate_ them, because I was _never_ Odin's daughter."

After hearing about the planet-sized issues of Hela's family, Erika had, for the first time, rethought her own issues with her sister. She had wondered whether she was blowing this whole mess out of proportion, but her mind quickly overwhelmed her with thoughts of betrayal and manipulation, pulling her back in line with her original goal of ruthlessly humiliating her sister by defeating her.

 _Stand my ground at all costs_  
 _Running through light with blindfolds_  
 _Just for the right_  
 _Right to be wrong_

Just as Erika had reaffirmed herself to continue her pursuit of destroying her sister's reputation, Isabel had chosen to press on with trying to defeat her as well, to get her to listen to her, and then try and gain her forgiveness.

But Sif knew better. If what she assumed about her and her sister turned out to be true, then she just knew their issues wouldn't instantly evaporate like they were nothing. If anything, being apart for a year was likely going to make things worse, going off her own experiences with Thor and Loki. A year apart for them had resulted in a huge battle on Midgard that held the realm's very fate in the balance. And, from what she had been told, Loki had done it all just to make a mockery of Thor and take away what was most precious to him.

While they weren't on the same level as the two Odinsons, Sif could tell that the two Hartmann sisters could be very dangerous if pushed to the extreme. And she would wager they could make the sky go black should they battle each other eventually.

"She is blinded by her perception of doing the right thing," the Warrior Goddess warned Michael as they both watched Isabel practice with the rest of her _Geschwader._ "Should she and her sister battle one day, I fear there will be massive collateral damage."

"When they do," the dark brunette began, already knowing it was merely an inevitability, "I can only pray that my brother and I have already ripped the blindfolds from their eyes. Perhaps then they'll be too blinded by their shows of care that it overwhelms the hatred."

"I am not one to judge you on your family problems," Hela offhandedly commented to Erika as the latter ate some Italian cuisine. "But have you thought about whether or not being in the wrong may turn out to be a good thing?"

The blonde paused, fork mid-way to her mouth. It made sense to her in a very twisted way, though really only because Hela was living (well, okay, not exactly 'living;' more like 'half-alive, half-dead') proof of that. Even after the horrible life she had lived, falling from grace and becoming her people's number one enemy, Erika saw Hela as not regretting it a bit. It was as if, while Erika's irrationality made her give a million reasons as to why something wasn't worth it, the Goddess of Death was resolute to the point she needed only one to say it was. And that reason, she knew, was the both of them meeting.

Erika and Hela really understood each other, surprisingly, and they had become great friends despite being total opposites and from entirely different realms. The same could also be said of Isabel and Sif, in a sense. Their friendship had somewhat of a mentoring element to it as well, given the Goddess of War's reflection on herself as a person and wanting to help out the Black Demoness to try and prevent her and her sister from turning into Thor and Loki. The whole 'mentor' aspect was also obviously because Sif was physically fully grown while Isabel wasn't. _Obviously._

 _Nothing would rule my world but you! (I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

As the flying ace, the Black Demoness, she was hardly thrown off by much of anything when she was in her element. It was as if a switch was flipped in her, directing all her focus to achieving victory. Though subconsciously her drive to achieve a win was through the promise of being able to make amends with her sister, she never recognized such purpose in her element, rather choosing instead to focus on the fighting itself.

Against the Finnish students of Jatkaminen, Isabel was faced with a challenge. It would've been a challenge regardless, as she had dealt with them before. They were a crafty bunch, and very efficient also. It really exercised her abilities as a tactician.

 _Who lost control! (Control!)_  
 _But in the end I'll be the last one standing!_

Erika noticed how Ooarai as a whole tended to operate separated when they went up against the Italians from Anzio, oftentimes forgoing any kind of backup and running solo. Add to that how her side was outnumbered two-to-one, and on the surface it looked as if her team was suicidal.

But the blonde was able to milk that perception distortion for what it was worth, knowing that the enemy's air forces were not nearly as strong in the air as their number suggested, and were borderline useless against her side's ground forces. Manfred knew this as well, letting her have free reign over the skies without his commands barking into her ear.

 _(I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

"The shield originally came with a different sword as a set," Sif explained her weapons to Isabel and Michael one day while relaxing. The desert heat was so high it gave no incentive for anyone to work in that kind of heat. "But I got a new sword in more recent years." She unsheathed her sword and held it before her. "This one. Both were forged in a place called Nidavellir."

Michael quirked an eyebrow at the foreign word, not really understanding. "That's a made-up word," he claimed, disbelieving.

"Uh, no it's not!" Isabel countered the dark brunette boy almost immediately, having actually studied the Norse myths and knowing it was where the Dwarves lived.

"Well, all words are made up, are they not?" Sif shrugged, idly running her fingers along the currently single blade.

Isabel looked about ready to argue with Michael some more until the Goddess of War's words registered. Then, all she could do was look to her, baffled a bit. "… I mean, you're not wrong…" she finally acquiesced that Sif had a point.

 _Whose soul is sold! (Is sold!)_  
 _Forever gone to be the last one standing taaaaaaaaaa-A-aaaaaaaaaall!_

"MMM! This is delicious!" Hela marveled at the Italian cuisine she had tried for the very first time. "Oh, it is like an explosion of flavor and it is just so delectable and tasty!"

Erika had to laugh at the Goddess of Death's demeanor: she reminded her very much of a highly enthusiastic child, with how she talked with her mouth still full and how unrefined her table manners were. It was a little bit depressing when she thought about it deeply, wondering if Hela had even _had_ a childhood at all, but it made her feel so warm to see her finally get to explore that side of her.

"Hey Erika, you should try this!" Hela shoved a forkful of ravioli into the blonde's mouth. Erika nearly choked on it, but she couldn't fault her for being so enthusiastic. She was just as excited for Anzio's traditional post-battle parties, as they were always great and so satisfying on all levels.

Though she had never been, and likely never would be thanks to her ties to Hel, Hela was willing to bet that the eternal feasting in Valhalla couldn't top the feast she was having at present. It was just _so fucking good,_ all this food. She even started picking some food from other plates and trying it out. One of those plates belonged to Manfred.

"Uh, what? Hela- _hey!_ That's mine!" the _Panzerkommandeur_ objected, looking a little put out by her picking. "You just took my food!"

"Oh, sorry!" the Death Goddess giggled with a full mouth, not sounding like she was sorry at all. She gave him a little pat on the hand as recompense, leaving faint tomato sauce fingerprints on the back of his hand.

The next two matches on the list for each of the Hartmann sisters included Isabel going up against St Gloriana, and Erika taking on Pravda.

"I thought we both agreed that you would take him back!" Isabel argued with Michael over what to do with their captured British spy, Aston. Said Brit looked between the two of them like it was a ping-pong game as they traded words.

"No no, I _never_ said I agreed! In fact, I don't remember saying _anything!_ You just got up and left after you spoke!" the _Panzerkommandeur_ argued back.

Isabel looked up and growled in frustration, reaching up but just stopping short of pulling her hair out. She then turned to the fourth person in the vicinity. "Sif, your thoughts?" she prompted, hoping to get some help from her.

"I think you should drop him from the skies behind enemy lines," the Warrior Goddess quipped distractedly as she performed some katas, preparing for the day. She wasn't expecting to be met with silence right after though, and she noticed all three giving her strange looks. That's when it hit her. " _With_ one of those parachute things, of course."

Sif was so nonchalant about the whole thing because it wasn't a real argument she was witnessing. She had to admit, it was clever on the two adolescents' part: throwing false information at an enemy spy as if it was legitimate, which would throw off their plans when they realized they were in the wrong the whole time. The two of them fighting was just a façade, to get the enemy to believe they had dissention and inter-branch rivalry, when really no such thing existed.

Meanwhile, further north, Hela was braving the cold Russian winter just fine in only her black and green bodysuit. "Seriously you two, it is not that cold…" she said to Erika and Manfred, both of whom were freezing, even with winter clothes on.

"I'm sorry, but not all of us have had the _pleasure_ of experiencing the eternally frozen realm of Jötunheim!" Erika retorted, bitter about the cold and hot with anger for the Russians.

Hela quirked an eyebrow. "Wow, I am surprised you know about that realm," she commented, not even bothering acknowledging the sarcasm.

" _Ach, verpiss dich,_ " Erika said to piss off as she walked away. Manfred signaled to Hela with his hands and shaking of his head to not take her words to heart. The Goddess of Death nodded understandingly, in a way that said, ' _of course,_ ' before giving a thumbs-up for encouragement for their coming battle.

 _Nothing would rule my world but you! (I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

"How _dare_ you come at me with that face…" Sif snarled after pushing Isabel and Michael behind her. Sword and shield drawn, she was looking at someone – no mere mortal, she was sure of that – who appeared just like the God of Mischief, Loki. It couldn't possibly be the Sivertongue himself, she figured. He was _dead._ "Have you no respect for the fallen?"

Loki shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Well, no, not really. Considering I have experienced the act three times now, I found it tedious at best, a dull pain in my neck at worst," he answered, those emerald green eyes quickly glancing at Isabel and Michael. When he caught Isabel, he grew a small devious grin, relishing how her gaze burned with affirmation.

Isabel was not the only one to connect the dots, as Sif thought that response was one only one person could give. And that was what made her sheath her weapons before launching herself at Loki, wanting to unleash utter Hel on him for everything he had just proven was a lie.

 _Who lost control! (Control!)_  
 _But in the end I'll be the last one standing!_

"ENOUGH!" Loki unleashed a blast of his _seidr_ in all directions to shove the out-for-blood Sif away from him. He was sick of fighting her. "I already said, I am here because your banishment has been ended!"

"A banishment that _you_ decreed!" the Warrior Goddess spat back, her hot-blooded attitude resurfacing for the first time in recent memory.

"And it ended up _saving your life!_ " the Chaos God threw back at her. Both were breathing heavily as the last several years rushed through them in a torrent. "I know you, Sif. Had you been there, you would have gotten yourself killed along with the others."

"Yet you _know_ I had dreamt of a glorious death alongside my friends!" Sif retorted, still freshly angered by his very presence. "And you denied me that!"

"There is no glory in death!" Loki barked at her. "Death is the very reason Asgard is gone!"

 _(I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

"…What?" Sif breathed. Hearing about everything that had happened since her banishment hit her like a truck, to use a mortal phrase. Asgard, the Realm Eternal, was _gone? Ragnarök_ happened? And what was this about Loki having possibly died a third time?

"The realm of Asgard may be gone, but its people live on," Loki told her when both had finally calmed. "There is a place we found here on Midgard, along the coast of a land called _Norge._ We refer to it as Ny Åsgard." Looking away, he paused, then added, "It is the place Odin passed. He called it home, and Thor took that as a sign."

Sif looked down in thought, still distressed at everything that had happened in her absence. It was all so overwhelming, knowing that everything had changed so much. She almost didn't _want_ to go back because of all that, but at the same time, she knew she was necessary to her people's survival now. Asgard's entire army had been decimated during _Ragnarök,_ leaving her and the Odinsons as part of a select handful that made up the last of Asgard's warriors. "Give me a moment," she muttered before turning away and walking off.

 _Whose soul is sold! (Is sold!)_  
 _Forever gone to be the last one standing!_

"Isabel! Isabel, please listen!" Sif pleaded with the German ultra-ace, shaking her. Isabel was on the verge of breaking down, mainly because she just didn't know where to go from here without Sif to help her. "Please. You have made mistakes in the past, but you have to forgive yourself if you want to fix them."

"No, I can't!" Isabel cried, shaking her head. "I… How can I when I drove away all that I love in such a cruel manner? It's madness!"

"Come now, where is that young woman with several hundred shoot-downs to her name?" Sif posed to her. "Where is that incredibly strong girl that can accomplish anything she puts her mind to?"

Isabel landed her head on the Warrior Goddess' shoulder. "I can't… I'm not as strong as you…" she muttered, her wet face buried into the shoulder piece of her silver armor.

Sif held her in a comforting embrace, doing her best to ease her fears. "No… You are stronger," she stroked her hair before letting go and joining Loki, who was pointedly looking away from everyone. She met eyes with Isabel, giving her one last encouraging smile before Loki warped them away in a flourish.

 _(I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

"'Everything will be fine,' you said. 'They will not recognize you,' you said. Try saying that _again,_ Erika…" Hela sarcastically commented as she summoned her antler-esque headdress, ready to battle many of her brother Thor's friends in Ny Åsgard's massive arena while Erika backed away with her own knife drawn by instinct.

"Hey, to be fair, I didn't realize what this place was at first when Helma came to me talking about this archery competition she signed up for in _Norweg!_ " Erika retorted, survival instincts telling her to run safe but her friendship instincts forcing her to stay and at least give some support with her mere presence. "You can't blame me! I didn't even know this place _existed!_ "

"Just get somewhere safe, will you?" Hela shot back, flinging one of her swords at the last remaining Valkyrie charging her. She deflected the sword with her own Valkyrie standard-issue _Dragonfang_ sword, making Hela fling another one at her with the same hand, backhanded, which she also deflected. Hela twisted and underhandedly swung another sword extending out of her other hand, which the Valkyrie parried. She was close enough to take a swipe at her while Hela followed through with her spin to face her, but Hela used the blade extending from her fist to block her and make her overshoot her charge. The Valkyrie swung again backhanded with her distinct sword, but Hela parried her with her sharpened-antler-esque headdress before delivering a powerful kick to her torso with a blade extending out of her heel, knocking her dozens of meters away across the arena onto her back and temporarily putting her out of commission with the stab wound.

 _Who lost control! (Control!)_  
 _But in the end I'll be the last one standing!_

Hela was willing to fight to defend herself, but she had learned over the last several months to take down people without killing them. Erika had shown her the meaning of life, so she was determined not to upset her by betraying that. Yet still, watching her fight was like watching a dance. A dance of death.

Hela manifested a Necrosword in each hand as she faced the spread-out group of 'Avengers,' as she was told they were called. Dumb name, but she had learned not to underestimate any enemy ever since _Ragnarök._ She pierced the two arm-mounted shields a soldier with blonde hair and a faint star outline on his outfit was armed with, using her leverage to shove him aside. She quickly twisted around and stepped to dodge a dark-skinned bald woman swinging with a spear, simultaneously gaining momentum to flip back towards the main group, dodging all their ranged attacks while twisting her body throughout the flip to retain vision of everyone. Landing, she took down a spy-looking woman with short blonde hair by striking her with the flat end of her sword's blade, followed by deflecting a salvo of arrows with her arm. She then twisted back and flung a flurry of swords at a sorcerer with a cape. He was protected with magic shields coming from his hands, but he was still thrown back with the sheer force of her throw.

Hela then shoved another oncoming attacker out of her path, the dark-skinned woman with the spear from earlier, making them overshoot, before she performed a flying backwards cartwheel, flinging swords out of her feet to drive back a younger sorcerer, a young woman in a corset with burning eyes of rage. Hela then deflected an attack from her side by the blonde spy before giving a powerful swing to the scarlet-clothed witch who had charged her hurling a red energy ball. Hela's swing redirected the energy ball back at her and threw the girl back. Several attacks came in from all directions, arrows and bullets plus magic spells, and she had to swing all around three-hundred sixty degrees to deflect them all. At the end of her circle-around, she hit what she recognized was a Kronan in the leg with her sword, forcing the rock creature to drop down. She didn't lose momentum, swinging back around one-hundred eighty degrees, giving an uppercut to the Kronan to knock them over, summoning another sword and parrying a behind attack from the soldier from earlier, the one with the arm shields, by stabbing one of the arm shields and throwing him away again with her strength.

 _(I!)_  
 _I am the one! (The one!)_

Bullets came flying in from the sky, and Hela instinctively drew her emerald green cape over herself as a shield. She then used both hands to fling a salvo of swords up at the skies, and hit her targets, bringing down but not killing – most important to her; she wanted to incapacitate, not kill – three flyers, one a physical person in a bird-like suit with long wings, another a small red flying machine that launched from the first one's back, and another physical person in a dark, bulky suit of armor. She sidestepped a repulsor blast from a dark-skinned adolescent girl, blocked a follow-up blast from her – following that, the attacking girl wisely chose to retreat – and spun around to deflect with her sword a salvo of throwing knives thrown by the blonde spy from behind her, finally parrying the same spy's electric baton swing, with the force of her parry throwing the spy back several meters.

She quickly spun around the opposite direction throwing swords to parry a multi-directional charge, the swords aimed at a boy with a metallic spider-styled suit – catching onto a web he shot out of his wrist and taking him for a ride – a woman in a dark wasp-like suit – who shrunk to evade, running along the blade, but the Necrosword's excess jagged edging caught her and took her for a ride also – and lastly another dark-haired soldier with a metal arm, with the sword impaling and hooking into said arm's wrist and throwing him back with the force of the throw. The dark-skinned woman with the spear swung at her from the front, but Hela parried her with her antlers, using them to rip the spear out of her hands before delivering a hard uppercut to knock her back. She then flung a sword at the scarlet-clothed witch, forcing her to create a shield from her hands that cracked from the intense strength of the throw, knocking her back. Hela then twisted around again, summoned another sword, and used it to catch the energy whip of the caped sorcerer, using her leverage to throw him across the arena.

She threw a blade at some weird purple alien she couldn't recall the species name of with a robotic exoskeleton that used blades for hands, the sword catching on the skeleton and yanking it back. Then she lifted up both arms to extend to either side of her, lifted her leg to point out ahead of her, and balanced on one foot as she leaned back and flung blades from each of her airborne limbs to deter a multi-directional charge from the blonde soldier, the blonde spy, and the rock creature, hitting them by the nips of their clothes and yanking them back. She turned and flung a flurry of swords at a man in a silver and red suit, who shrunk to avoid them but got yanked by the fangs of one Necrosword when he tried to run along the blade's edge. She then twisted back and flung a flurry of swords with her other arm towards the scarlet-clothed witch, who only just barely managed to deflect them via telekinesis, Hela noticed, as red outlines of energy surrounded the swords flung at her. Then, she twisted back and caught a uniquely Dwarven-crafted weapon thrown at her: an axe, with one end of the blade a sharp blade like an axe, and the other end blunt, meant to serve as a balancing weight but also usable as a hammer, with a crude handle resembling a tree branch. Though it was never crafted during her time, she still recognized the basic design as that of the _Stormbreaker._ Wow, Thor had _this_ now? She had to admit, she was impressed, as she recalled it was designed to be just as strong a weapon as the Infinity Gauntlet, but she only briefly paused to look at her brother knowingly before she threw the axe back at him.

 _Whose soul is sold! (Is sold!)_  
 _Forever gone to be the last one standing taaaaaaaaaall!_

"HELA!" the Goddess of Death heard Erika scream. She whipped around to find the girl living through her greatest nightmare: Loki had a knife to her throat and held her hands behind her, tightly enough to prevent retaliation or escape, despite her struggles. Neither had seen the God of Mischief throughout the fight, assuming he wasn't much of a fighter, but now they realized they had vastly underestimated him. He may not have been a fighter, but he was a great strategist, going after Hela's greatest weakness like that.

" _Enough,_ sister," Loki warned, just as cold and wicked as the blonde had remembered him. "I have been waiting six years to end this girl's life. Do not give me a more compelling reason to."

Erika was trying to shake her head to convince Hela not to give up, knowing that if she turned herself in, then they would lock her up for eternity again. But Hela, after debating whether or not Loki would actually kill her and seeing just how terrified the girl was despite trying to not be, eventually decided she wasn't willing to risk her friend for anything, so she laid down her swords and raised her hands.

"HELA, NO!" Erika screamed, desperate to stop her from this crazy plan of hers but unable to do a thing about it. "ARE YOU CRAZY!?"

"Erika…" the Goddess of Death said to her, pleading for her silence for just a second. "This is my choice." Those words struck Erika to the core as she realized Hela was not going to budge. When the special cuffs were placed on her wrists, Hela immediately felt her power suppressed, which showed physically as the illusion covering her rotten half faded away. If this was the price she had to pay to do something good for once in her life – making sure Erika was safe – then she would pay it.

Erika had to hold her hand to her mouth to stop herself from breaking out into sobs. Hela had just become too important to her as a friend to see go, especially with the people who were her own kind yet absolutely hated her. They would throw her in a dark cell for eternity again, she just knew, and she knew Hela would rather die before being forced back into that darkness again.

 _Seeing clearer what I've done!_  
 _I refuse to let things go!_

Sif had no idea _what_ to think about the mess that happened in the arena. She had _really_ missed a lot, it seemed. Now she learned that Odin had another child way before her own time that he had used as a weapon in the pursuit of building Asgard's empire. And seeing her in action… She had always thought the Valkyries were Asgard's most elite warriors, but now she questioned that after seeing Hela effortlessly fight off the majority of Earth's mightiest heroes, toss aside Valkyrie without breaking a sweat, and utterly humiliate Thor by catching and hurling his own axe back at him.

"I think I finally understand why you despised Odin so much back then," the Goddess of War said to the God of Mischief lying across the couch on the other side of the table. "It was the lies, was it not?"

"You would think _he_ would have been better suited for being the God of Lies rather than me, but here we are…" Loki mused as he read a book. That was so him, to read a book just because.

 _I could never once admit I'm wrong!_  
 _And what do I have to show!?_

"Do you still despise him?" Sif posed tentatively, knowing that Loki had very sore issues with Odin before. But she was still curious, because she couldn't help but notice how he had changed somewhat. He was still the God of Mischief, but it was as if, though he could be extremely cruel and ruthless as always, he was ultimately on the side of good, which was new to her.

"I would…" the Chaos God paused, briefly working out how to word it, "… if he had not recognized me as his son moments before he passed." He shut his book and put it on the table, applying full focus to this matter. "As much as I strived to prove myself an Odinson over the years, I was about ready to throw in the towel, thinking I would never have that distinction. But he surprised me in the end and finally gave me the recognition I had always wanted from him."

Sif looked down, recalling every single time Loki had spat in the Allfather's face in the past. And it still floored her how much things had changed now. Now, for the first time she can recall in recent memory, Thor and Loki were not fighting each other, and looked to have settled everything between themselves. They were _brothers_ again. Perhaps _Ragnarök_ had given some unexpected blessings in its chaos.

Though, looking at how overgrown Loki's hair was, Sif slyly smiled as she pulled out a dagger, gaining an idea. "I think it is about time I return the favor," she told him, waving the blade at her own raven black hair before doing the same in his direction.

Loki looked to her, raising his eyebrows. The last time either of them had held a dagger so close to each other's head was when Loki had cut her hair off when they were children. Originally she was a blonde, but she had asked him to cut it all off so everyone would take her more seriously as a warrior. Loki then proposed the idea to curse it to regrow black, to take the original idea of seriousness further, and Sif had agreed wholeheartedly to it, unlike how most people believed it as Loki cutting it all and cursing it out of spite.

 _Seeing clearer what's at stake!_  
 _And the things I have to change_

"If there's anything – _anything_ at all – that you want from me… know that I, and the rest of the Guardians, will do it without hesitation," Gamora promised to Hela – still with half of her appearing absolutely dead – from the other side of the Goddess' holding cell, meant to hold her until trial. The green-skinned woman with dark hair fading to a hot pink at the tips and silver scars along her face was here to offer Hela a chance to get out. After all, her chosen family knew a thing or two about escaping prison, and she had a huge personal debt to her for being freed by her. "You saved me, and my family, and several trillions of lives all across the universe from Thanos, even though you had no reason to. So I owe you."

Hela remembered one other command she had issued through the Infinity Gauntlet as a price for Gamora's request, which was to have everyone involved in the so-called Infinity War remember their experiences, even when time was reset and the war was no more in this timeline. She had thought it up as a sadistic way to torture people with thoughts of what could have been, because she understood emotional manipulation was very painful and a damning form of mental torture. But now, she just thanked herself for doing that, because that meant Gamora remembered their brief time together. Taking that into account, to hear her genuinely thank her made her feel very warm on the inside, and it made her smile. It was an incredible rarity for her to receive thanks, and she treasured it.

But Hela knew there was no other way to go if she wanted to atone for all her wrongs than to go through the law. So she instead summoned a little project she had been working on into her hand: a sword hilt, with a button on the side of it that she thumbed, resulting in the blade of a Necrosword extending from the hilt. She had created it as a replacement for Gamora's own sword – _Godslayer,_ she remembered, long since destroyed by the Mad Titan – should she ever run into her again. Retracting the sword's blade, she pushed it through the energy barrier that served to cage her in – the barrier kept _her_ in, but it could recognize other objects and let them through if they were unthreatening – and let the cybernetically-enhanced Zehoberei take it.

"All I wish of you, is for you to live your life with your family," Hela told her. "Girls like us do not generally get the chance for happiness, so I want you to make the most of yours." Tilting her head, she just remembered something: a few days ago – the day before she was arrested – when she was exploring the city with Erika's friends, she _had_ briefly seen Gamora at one point, also out for a walk with the mortal she was in love with – Peter Quill, the name came to her – and another cybernetically-enhanced being: a Luphomoid, she could tell, who she assumed was the sister Gamora had spoken of. But she distinctly recalled how back then the Zehoberei was heavily pregnant, looking ready to pop. But now only a few days later, her body was as slim as it was when they first met, so she wondered… "Speaking of, I believe you already have. What have you been up to lately? Specifically the past few days?"

Gamora grinned in good nature, "I _knew_ that was you! Yeah, you caught me." She then grew a look of adoration. "Yes, I just had my daughter only two days ago. She's just _perfect._ "

"I assume with that Star-Prick," Hela jabbed. Gamora nodded in confirmation while giggling, knowing the Goddess was just teasing her about Peter and meant no malice. Hela recalled that two days ago was the day she was arrested. Now it made sense why she didn't see her at the arena, or any of the other so-called 'Guardians of the Galaxy.' "What is her name?" she asked, curious.

The Zehoberei paused ever so briefly, wondering how she would take her choice. Peter had supported her on it, but Hela was a different story. "Elspeth," she revealed the first name, picked out for being her own long-since-deceased mother's name, though she was not done yet. She grew a smile with a hint of pride in it at revealing the whole thing. "Elspeth Hela Quill." The Goddess of Death's eyes went wide in disbelief, completely _floored_ and shocked in the most pleasant way possible. Gamora had named her daughter partly in honor of _her,_ the Goddess of Death! _HER!_

 _I just hope I can, it's not too late!_  
 _To get a chance to end this pain!_

"Your Majesty, just let me cut her head off already," the last Valkyrie impatiently requested of Thor. The day for Hela's trial had finally come. It was a strictly Asgardian affair, meaning the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy held no sway and as such weren't there for it. "It is better than she deserves but I cannot stand her presence any longer."

"You should know by now that would not work, darling," Hela mocked her, standing below and before her blonde brother in chains. With them on, she was still unable to cover up her rotten half, putting it on full display to everyone, yet she was still prideful in her stance. She wasn't willing to admit to anyone there that she had actually done good things, because she didn't care how she was thought of by a people who forgot her. Why not just be who they expected her to be? They wouldn't think any differently of her, anyway. "You already tried twice before, and failed. We have already established that I cannot die. Or were you drunk then and you missed it?"

"Hela, enough!" Thor warned. Loki and Sif were to his left, Loki directly beside his brother with a new shorter haircut courtesy of the Warrior Goddess. Neither had words to offer, Sif because she knew nothing about Hela, and Loki because he wasn't entirely on either side, knowing a little _too_ much about where both sides had come from.

"Oh, brother, it must _burn_ you," the Goddess of Death taunted, eyes full of twisted pleasure. "Your attempts to kill me destroyed the entirety of our home, and yet you still _failed._ And you even had the audacity to _lie_ about it to your friends!" Thanks to both Peter and Gamora's recounts, Hela knew for a fact her brother had lied about her death to the Guardians, but to the Avengers and other Asgardians she only assumed. "But no, I will let you continue pretending to be Odin's perfect little heir, if only because it will be fun ripping the rug out from under you later! We both know the difference between you and I: _I_ am Odin's firstborn, the rightful heir, the _savior_ of Asgard! And _you_ are _nothing!_ "

Upon his sister spitting out her last word, the Thunder God's natural left eye and cybernetic right eye flashed in rage and with lightning, and he meant to throw an electrified _Stormbreaker_ at Hela, but a small hand held his arm back and got him to calm down, de-escalating the conflict. "Actually…" the woman to his right interrupted, with an American accent, very uncharacteristic for an Asgardian. "Now that you brought up Odin, I've just gotten an idea for a fair and just sentencing."

The Asgardian court fell silent as their Queen Jane, formerly the mortal Jane Foster but now the full-blooded Asgardian Goddess of Thunder, presented her idea. It was an idea that the majority had to admit actually _was_ fair, in that it was perfect for making Hela not want to perform her crimes again.

The sun was getting low in the skies over Remagen, Germany. And Isabel felt a mixture of fear and resignation. She had lost in her duel with Erika, giving victory to Ooarai. Losing in itself didn't really bother her so much now, but having lost when the stakes were so high for her left a feeling of hopelessness.

"I can't forget my mistakes," she had told Michael the night before the fight. "Those memories are the only things I have to drive me forward. They are the only things giving me purpose."

Though she was on the high of victory, Erika couldn't help but get cold feet when she caught her sister's gaze from across the field. It was a sensation she had felt for the past couple of years whenever she caught her sister's eye, but it felt so much heavier this time in particular.

"All this time, I've been going the complete wrong direction," Erika had said to Manfred in a late-night talk the previous night. She absently twirled her knife with one hand. "What does that say of me? That I'm just way in over my head and an utter fool?"

Watching from the side, Michael's dark brown eyes lit up in pride at seeing the two sisters make the first step towards one another. He allowed himself to smile at it.

"No, you shouldn't forget, but you _should_ forgive," the dark brunette had told Isabel last night. "Acknowledging and accepting the past is the first step towards change. What you're trying to accomplish will not be easy in the least bit. However, it's as they say: the greater the risk, the greater the reward."

Manfred looked to his brother and nodded to him with a smile. He had not failed Erika as he feared he would. And it gave him great relief to know she was back.

"It says that you haven't missed the deadline," the vibrant brunette had dished out to Erika that previous night. "You still have a chance to set things right. All you need to do so is a drive, and I believe you have one. I know you still love Isabel. If you didn't, you wouldn't have felt so much pain."

When Isabel and Erika finally were close enough to reach out to each other, both of them were incredibly nervous. They were seeing each other for the first time in a year, so they were understandably fearful they would do something to drive the other away.

Erika reached out first, for a handshake, but upon seeing her reach out, Isabel just launched herself at her and wrapped her in a huge hug. The both of them quickly dissolved into tears as all their emotions over the past year ran out of them, both of them repeating desperate apologies to each other, " _Es tut mir Leid, es tut mir Leid, es tut mir Leid!_ "

Michael and Manfred were together, and they both smiled with relief at the sight. Both of them high-fived each other, each of them happy to see their friends resolve their differences and make up finally.

Anna Novat had gotten a look at her twin brother Bruno across the field. She hoped he didn't take her victory personally and treat it as another instance where she showed him up just because. But after getting a reluctant nod from him, she realized that was not the case at all. So she smiled back at him and gave a thumbs-up before mouthing, ' _call me whenever you like._ ' She would be there.

Across the globe, aboard another Japanese school ship that housed Tatenashi Gakuen, two raven-haired adolescent girls saw the scene of the two Hartmann sisters play out on internet livestream. They had minor differences between each other, namely that one had ice blue eyes while the other had emerald green eyes, and the blue-eyed girl had wavy hair, while the green-eyed girl's hair was straight. The green-eyed girl's skin was also a little paler by comparison.

But the biggest thing they had in common right now was watching Isabel and Erika make up. It meant all their work paid off, and they smiled with pride. Officially speaking, the both of them were from Norway, and were transfer students. They landed an interesting pair of dorm mates: two boys, both natives of the land. One was of samurai blood while the other was pretty much a regular student, though athletic. Regardless, the two Norwegian girls knew this would be an interesting experience, to say the least.

Speaking of them, their legal names. The first girl with blue eyes was named Sif Krigsdatter, and the second girl with green eyes was called Hela Helvete.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Erika.**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **The author does not claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, this interpretation of Sif, Hela, the Infinity Gauntlet, the Infinity Stones, Gamora, Thanos, this interpretation of Odin, this interpretation of the realm of Hel, this interpretation of Loki, this interpretation of the realm of Asgard, Frigga, this interpretation of Thor, Agent Phil Coulson, this interpretation of Surtur, this interpretation of the realm of Nidavellir, this interpretation of the realm of Jötunheim, "Thor: Ragnarök," Valkyrie, the Dragonfang, Steve Rogers, Okoye, Natasha Romanova, Clint Barton, Stephen Strange, Wanda Maximoff, Korg, Sam Wilson, the Redwing, James Rhodes, Shuri, Peter Parker, Hope van Dyne, Bucky Barnes, Miek, Scott Lang, the Stormbreaker, "Avengers: Infinity War," the Godslayer, Peter Quill, Nebula, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Avengers, Jane Foster, or any other references made. The author does not take credit for the use of the name 'Elspeth,' though the character herself, 'Elspeth Hela Quill,' the author does indeed take credit for.**_

 _ **"Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Ac** **tas.** _ **The music used belongs to**_ **Hamme** **rfall.** _ **This interpretation of Sif, Hela, the Infinity Gauntlet, the Infinity Stones, Gamora, Thanos, this interpretation of Odin, this interpretation of the realm of Hel, this interpretation of Loki, this interpretation of the realm of Asgard, Frigga, this interpretation of Thor, Agent Phil Coulson, this interpretation of Surtur, this interpretation of the realm of Nidavellir, this interpretation of the realm of Jötunheim, "Thor: Ragnarök," Valkyrie, the Dragonfang, Steve Rogers, Okoye, Natasha Romanova, Clint Barton, Stephen Strange, Wanda Maximoff, Korg, Sam Wilson, the Redwing, James Rhodes, Shuri, Peter Parker, Hope van Dyne, Bucky Barnes, Miek, Scott Lang, the Stormbreaker, "Avengers: Infinity War," the Godslayer, Peter Quill, Nebula, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Avengers, and Jane Foster all belong to**_ **Marvel Studios.** _ **Any other references made belong to their respective owners. The use of the name 'Elspeth' was inspired by**_ **sharkinter** **viewee** _ **who used it for a few of her Guardians of the Galaxy stories. If you enjoy that fandom, check her out.**_

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_

 _ **Also, heavy props to you if you read this whole dumpster fire of credits.**_


	154. Kapitel 28,1

_**The Legends Still Live On**_

 _ **Bogen Achtundzwanzig: Die zwei Freunde**_

 _ **Kapitel Ein: Interner Machtkampf**_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

' _No… she **wouldn't…**_ ' Erich thought, desperately latching onto that last tendril of hope that maybe he was mistaken.

Before him, stance ready to spring to self-defense, was Miho. This here right now was an utter tragedy to her, one that just made her even more upset upon recognizing it was practically unavoidable.

She had managed to shatter the complete, unyielding trust Erich had in her.

That was saying something, considering there was no one he trusted more than her for anything.

"How long?" Erich asked in a low voice filled with a whirlwind of emotions. Hatred, heartbreak, betrayal, disbelief, all of those.

Miho did not want to answer, because she knew the truth would devastate him. It was already bad enough as it was, but she knew if she answered that there would be worse to come.

"Do not _FUCK_ with me, Miho!" the blonde all-but-yelled at her when she didn't answer. " _How long!?_ "

Answering was unavoidable, as all the evidence had already been discovered. So, with a heavy heart, she whispered, "Ten years."

She saw it. She saw something in those deep blue eyes of his just snap. Erich lowered his head for a moment. When he lifted his gaze back to hers, she saw his eyes were no longer that gentle, kind blue they normally were. Now, his eyes were stormy and icy.

Without warning, he flew towards her with only the thought of coldly-served vengeance in his head.

' _I'm sorry…_ ' Miho wept in her mind as everything fell apart. Her very best friend had now been turned against her.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Miho:_ Now, I know what you're thinking. 'How did this happen?' It's not a happy tale, so don't get your hopes up.

Before I show you, I just want you to understand this: be wary of being too compliant. Otherwise it will become impossible to break free from compliance's grasp, which can have a whole host of consequences, good _and_ bad.

My situation was very specific, but my point remains: sometimes, becoming too compliant means your will no longer remains relevant. Instead, someone else's will take precedence. And, like any other time wills clash, conflict will erupt. But, in this case, someone like I had described ends up becoming the enemy to one side just because they remained compliant, whether by force or willingly, to the other side.

Oh, that sounds like a mess. How can I describe it better?... Perhaps it's similar to this: imagine your family was killed by an assassin, but that assassin was operating under the orders of a higher master. From the assassin's perspective, they may have not been given a choice in it. They _had_ to do it, whether to ensure their own survival or because they had grown too complacent. They may not even have _wanted_ to do it, at all. But it doesn't matter in the end, because you'd still blame them for the death of your family.

Yet, all of that could have been prevented had the assassin stood up for themselves and not submit to something they didn't want to do.

I guess my ultimate point is this: don't let someone else make your decisions for you. Otherwise things can get much, much worse if you forgo your own control.

I speak from experience.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Earlier that day…**

In the Ooarai hangars, was almost no activity.

In fact, the only ones there were Miho, Erich, and their respective crews. The crews weren't up to much. Rather, they were busied by binge-watching some American show Anton had sucked them into projected onto one of the walls. They were all huddled close together in camping chairs, which presented the problem of David being unable to see over Mako's chair.

"Can you move your seat up?" he asked her politely, seated behind her in his own chair. It was strange hearing his monotonous way of speaking try to mix with politeness.

"No," Mako flatly responded, otherwise not outwardly showing even a hint that she heard him.

David had no outward reaction to that besides scooting his chair over a little bit, as much as the tight spacing would allow.

Elsewhere in the hangar, both Erich and Miho were standing over a table riddled down in work relating to the Arts of Warfare programs.

"No, feel free to leave a message," the blonde said over the phone. "… Why leave a message? Because I like to see how high I can get the number of missed calls." He then hung up on Anzu.

But in seconds, his phone rang again, this time from Aprikose. " _No,_ don't!" he groaned out, choosing to immediately hang up before answering.

He was sick of the Student Council constantly calling him. Granted, he couldn't blame them. After all, they _were_ a lot busier now as all the work they had pushed back started to creep back up on them, but he was just sick of getting calls all the time. Couldn't he get a break?

"Just tell them to contact me from now on," Miho said, not even so much as glancing up as she looked over her master chart for combat readiness.

" _Gladly,_ " he sighed in relief.

He quickly shot out a text to all Student Council members, saying, ' _If it's Arts of Warfare-related business, PLEASE bother Miho with it instead of me._ ' Afterwards, he shoved his phone back in his pocket.

Not five seconds later, Miho's phone toned with the arrival of a new message.

"Really…" Erich shook his head.

The vibrant brunette took out her phone and opened the message. Reading it, she gasped as if something just came to her. " _Scheiße!_ " she cursed, looking to him with wide eyes. "I forgot to get that clearance form for keeping aboard the _T-Stoff_ and _C-Stoff!_ Can you take that for me? _Danke!_ " She said everything very quickly in one breath, shoving her phone in his direction before sprinting off.

"Wha-HEY!" Erich yelled after her, dumbstruck for that split-second and nearly dropping her phone. "Don't leave me alone with all this!" Alas, Miho paid him no heed and ran off to her task. "… Aaaaand she's gone. _Scheiße…_ "

Looking down at her phone, Erich read through the message his girlfriend just received. It was from Yuzu, and it said, ' _I tried placing the order for that delivery of fuel, but to get the Komet's I need your authorization. Can you take care of that?_ '

"Wait a minute…" the blonde contemplated. "If clearance was an issue, then couldn't _I_ clear it up?" He thought for a moment, but then shook his head. "Nah. Too much work for me."

He chose to write up a return message that just said, ' _On it._ ' It didn't matter if he was answering in her steed, because, for all intents and purposes, he knew Miho was on it regardless.

His brow furrowed, however, when he caught sight of a message chain that looked very peculiar to him. Mainly, the peculiarity stemmed from the messages being exchanged with Miho's mother. He thought it strange because as far as he could tell, Miho never once tried contacting her mother ever since he found her aboard the _Zuikaku._

But… now that he thought back, he _had_ seen her sometimes texting at various times in the past, but whenever he brought it up, she would dismiss him, saying it was nothing important. And he let it be. Maybe these were the messages he was thinking of.

It felt so wrong to him to snoop through her phone like this without her permission, but Erich was just too intrigued to resist himself. He figured that he could beg for forgiveness later. Ergo, he tapped the chain and opened it, beginning to read through it.

As he began reading, he felt more and more like he had just stumbled on something he was never meant to find out. But, at the same time, he was struck in disbelief at what he was seeing. Because this just _couldn't_ be right. There was just _no way._

… Was there?

He knew Miho. He _knew_ her. Better than anyone else, he'd argue. Almost mockingly, however, there was no possibility he could think of that would explain this in a way that fit her personality. ' _Or,_ ' a tiny corner of his mind whispered traitorously, ' _maybe you never knew her at all, and this is how she **really** is._ '

Erich shook his head, trying to shake off those thoughts. This was his best friend, the person he trusted more than anyone else, that he was talking about. Surely she has a reason for this?

' _But, if she did, then how would I figure it out?_ ' was the question he thought. He didn't think she would be forthcoming about this with how she had deliberately concealed it from him, so the next best option was to figure it out for himself.

Currently, the only information he had on the matter was that which lied at his fingertips, as it was highly unlikely he could get into other sources of information. Miho was very meticulous, observant, and organized. She could notice something was out of place the moment she walked into a room.

He looked through the chain, getting a deeper and deeper feeling of nausea at how long it went. What made it feel so sickening was the incredibly vague wording used. Nothing was ever explicitly mentioned, and it looked as if what was implied was only able to be deciphered if one were in on the secret.

It was mainly a series of status updates, prompted by Shiho, but it looked as if Miho was willingly answering, giving sitreps on an objective of some kind. Popping up a few times were references to a plan that was never explicitly mentioned. The whole chain had a feel to it not unlike that of planning a coup if Erich was interpreting it correctly. It sounded very devious in a background sort of way, having just enough pieces to it to make it sound like some sort of plot.

Then the really disturbing part was when Miho was prompted on suspicions and loyalties. It was disturbing because her answer was that there was not a hint of suspicion, but simultaneously it was written in a very prideful sort of way. The same manner was used whenever answering about loyalties, with the short answer being loyalty was assured. But the disturbing part was that she had not specified _whose_ loyalty was assured. The way it was written, it made it seem like there was more than one person whose loyalty was being discussed. And the real unsettling part was that often suspicions and loyalties were questioned in tandem, making it seem like both were intertwined in some way. With that, Erich got the feeling that there was someone loyal to the cause that was unaware of that fact, meaning they had no idea about this hidden agenda at all, which meant this person likely wasn't supposed to be aware of this in the first place and was meant simply to be used as a tool when the time came.

Oh, now he was feeling _really_ sick.

Looking back up at the time at the top of the screen, he noticed a couple of minutes had passed, and that Miho was likely to come back soon. But he hadn't yet deciphered what was going on in this plan, so when she came back, he knew he would lose his chance at uncovering whatever this plan was.

Finally, he thought of something. Leaving the hangar, he called out to his and Miho's crews, "I have to go! Tell Miho I went to the library!"

He got no response, but that was because he knew they were completely sucked into the show they were watching and didn't want to lose focus. Hence the lack of a verbal answer. But he knew they heard him anyway and would tell Miho when she came back that he went off.

But he had no intention whatsoever of heading to the library. Rather, he began to run back to the dorm they shared. He only threw out library because it was the first thing he thought of. 'Information' led to 'library.'

All this time he managed to keep flicking his thumb across the phone's screen to keep it unlocked. Not knowing her passcode meant he had to do that to keep the information he now had. And he had no intentions of letting it go.

XXXXXXXXXX

' _Well, that mess is now gone,_ ' Miho thought with satisfaction as she strolled back to the hangars.

It was just a case of forgetfulness that caused that trouble, and it was now taken care of. Now, the Me 163's special – and highly volatile – fuel and oxidizer were ordered along with the other types of fuel needed for the Arts of Warfare programs' vehicles, conveniently at the same time.

It was only a problem because there was an extra line of legal stuff to go through regarding liabilities with rocket fuel due to how volatile and dangerous it could be when mishandled. Hence the need for top-level authorization – in other words, either hers or Erich's name on the form – to acquire it.

But that train of thought lost track quickly when she noticed the ultra-ace himself was no longer in the hangar. Rolling her eyes with a small grin of fond exasperation at the assumption he was skipping out like always, she instinctively dug through her pocket to find her phone and send a message off to Erich, but it was then she realized with a start she had left it with him when she left. Striding to the table with all their work spread out over it, she quickly saw it wasn't there.

Now confused, she walked over towards where her and his crews were at, guessing he was with them.

But he wasn't. It was just the crews, eyes glued to the show being projected on the wall. It made her raise an eyebrow and idly wonder if not here, then where else Erich could be.

"Hey, guys?" Miho prompted.

"SSH!" everyone else hissed at her before returning their gaze resolutely to the show.

She raised her other eyebrow, a little put off by their hostility. But it just gave her the information that they were completely sucked into the show. It meant she had to change tactics. Looking around for whatever the source of the show was, she quickly found out it was Yukari's laptop playing it. It rested atop the _Panzer_ IV's rear deck, with a charging cord running from it to one of the floor-mounted outlets.

' _Fine, if you want to play that way,_ ' she thought, silently striding to the laptop and delicately pressing the pause button with one finger.

"Hey! What the hell! Oh, come on!" a wave of protests resounded from the group at the interruption.

"Just answer a quick question for me and I'll leave you alone to watch… what are you even _watching,_ to begin with?" Miho started to assert herself, only to get caught up with what weird show they were watching. She recognized it as looking somewhat anime-esque in style, but there was something off about it.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender," Anton supplied. At Miho's quizzical expression, he began to explain, "Well, it's an American cartoon drawn in a similar style as anime and is in part defined by its heavy integration of East Asian culture-"

"Ah-ah. Later, maybe," Miho interrupted with a hand wave, conceding to come back to the topic later. It did interest her a little bit, truth be told, but it wasn't important now. "Do you all know where Erich went?"

"He said he was going to the library when he left," Saori provided, helpful as always.

"Thanks," Miho returned with a smile, pressing the play button and walking away.

She logically concluded that Erich must've taken her phone with him to the library. As she set off for said building, she wondered why he would take her phone like that. She thought it may have been a whimsical choice. It would certainly fit his modus operandi of harmless immaturity. So she didn't think he had any sinister intentions with it.

Of course, that wasn't to say she wasn't still annoyed by him taking her damn phone in the first place. It was _her_ fucking phone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile in her apartment, Erich had already fully dived into the information he discovered. And it wasn't looking pretty.

He read as many messages as he could, trying to find out as much as possible. He was looking out for anything that might lead to something concrete, but he had no luck for the most part. The language used was too cryptic to have any specifics deduced from it.

Until he found one message talking about how Shiho had sent Miho an updated version of a plan of some kind. Given the previous occurrences of the word, he assumed the plan they spoke of was the one they had been talking about before.

That message gave him some satisfaction, namely because he was finally getting somewhere. He assumed this plan was sent via e-mail, so he backed out of the messages and went straight to the e-mail app. No requirement for a password on the app meant he had easy – and full – access to all her folders, including, crucially, her inbox.

Now it was merely down to finding out which of these e-mails didn't quite belong. He highly doubted Shiho would send e-mails to her youngest on a whim, so it made sense to him that he would find just one e-mail sent by her.

"Junk. Junk. School. Junk," he muttered as he scrolled. "That's mine. Junk. Junk. School. School." He raised an eyebrow quizzically. "I don't think I want to know who sent _that_ one."

After another minute, he finally landed on the one oddity in the bunch. It was hard to spot at first, as it looked like it was sent by a burner account, but it didn't have the typical promotional appearance that a junk e-mail would have, so it gave him reason to check it at least.

"Ah, here we are," he observed triumphantly. That ended up being the jackpot. That e-mail featured nothing but a single attached file with a name denoting the file was a revision. Assured this was the one, Erich decided to forward the e-mail to himself.

Afterwards, he booted up the computer in the room and brought up his own e-mail. Opening the message, he momentarily hesitated to open the attached file, unsure if he really wanted to find out what was in it.

Mentally going back and forth with it for a little bit, he eventually shook his head. "Well, I've come this far," he said to himself. "It'd be a waste of effort to _not_ continue forth."

Now resolved, he opened the attachment, bringing up an outlined plan.

But, upon seeing what the plan entailed, as well as its final objective, Erich felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. This was _so much_ worse than he had imagined.

"No, no, no, no…" he shook his head in denial. Eyes darting back up to the screen, he immediately looked away again, squeezing his eyes shut. "No, there's no way… There's just no way…"

But the proof was right in front of him. It was undeniable. Now, Erich was wondering if he had _ever_ known Miho, because in light of his discovery, he just didn't recognize her anymore.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What in God's name is going on?" Miho thought aloud with a bit of frustration as she walked along the sidewalk.

She hadn't found Erich at the library, which really threw her for a loop, because she couldn't figure out why he would lie about that. Every possibility she thought of was written off when she thought a little deeper and recognized that his attitude wouldn't lead to that possibility. The only thing she could think of that made even the basest kind of sense was that it was a long practical joke, but even that didn't quite make total sense when she thought about it.

If it was just an elaborate prank, then her friends would've had to have been in on it. But they weren't. Miho read their expressions and mannerisms when she talked to them earlier. They had acted in a way that was just too genuine. If they had been in on it, then there would've been a few oddities in their behaviors she would've noticed. That was especially true for someone like Saori, who wore her emotions plain as day on her face.

So it left her back to square one: why did Erich lie about where he was heading?

It was making her head hurt to think about it, so she decided to just drop it for now and think about where he could possibly be. If not the library, where else would he have gone?

He still had her phone with him, so she wondered if it was possibly related to that in some way. Maybe he had been intrigued with something on there? It wasn't as if she kept many interesting things on her phone.

… Or at least, things that didn't interest _her._ Maybe she had to think about it from Erich's perspective. If she was him, then what would she do with her phone?

She tried to remember everything on her phone, cataloguing everything in it as things that _would_ be interesting to him and things that would not be interesting to him. At first, she was still stuck, as there wasn't any obvious thing on her phone she could remember that would intrigue him.

But then she recalled how Erich's mind worked: he was someone who went after the small details to build a bigger picture. So chances were, whatever he was interested in wasn't blatantly out there in the open. It was also likely whatever he was interested in was connected to something else. With that in mind, she dug deeper into her mentally-constructed phone, not leaving one app unchecked.

She recalled that she had a chain of messages exchanged with her mother, but she had dismissed them from being his interest at first. It was highly unlikely that he would decipher their meanings thanks to the vague wording used in them.

But she thought perhaps she should mentally go through them again, just to completely rule them out. She knew Erich had a very stubborn determination when he wanted something badly enough.

A frigid chill suddenly swept through her as she came to the realization that maybe he _was_ determined enough to try and figure out what those messages were saying. It was a terrifying thought to wonder if he could do it.

Shoving her fear to the side, she tried to think about it rationally. If – and this was a big 'if' – he did try going about uncovering the meanings of those messages, then she knew he would eventually be led to check her e-mail. When he did that, she knew he was competent enough to find the e-mail with her mother's plans for her. But the plan couldn't be opened on her phone. She knew it could only be opened on a computer, and she had made sure it was deleted from the files of the computer in their dorm to prevent Erich from discovering it.

With that, she figured there was nothing to worry about and that her secret was safe. There was no way he could gain access to her e-mail on the computer.

But she was continually bothered by the idea that he may have found a way regardless. Thinking hard, she tried to figure out how he could still get access to those plans with that roadblock in the way. He couldn't gain access to her e-mail on a computer, so what other way was there?

She felt the breath leave her lungs suddenly as she thought she figured out a way. With access to her e-mail on her phone, there was nothing stopping him from forwarding the e-mail to himself. And then he could open his own e-mail on a computer, open the forwarded e-mail, and open the file from there.

Now she was feeling nauseous. She knew that if he found out what was in that file, then he would be destroyed emotionally. That was why she had never told him.

Suddenly she found herself standing in front of their dorm room. She wondered what had brought her here, because she was so consumed in her thoughts she wasn't paying attention to where she was heading. Maybe it was instinct that brought her here.

She hoped her instincts hadn't failed her. Opening the door with her key, she was relieved yet anxious to see Erich sitting at the desk in the corner, where the computer was. Gently closing the door behind her, she slowly advanced towards him, wary of how he hadn't paid her any notice yet. He was just staring at the computer screen.

She glanced at it, and immediately flinched in pain at what she saw. ' _He knows._ '

On the screen was the full detailed plan Shiho had for her. It wasn't terribly complex, but it required one thing above all else in order to succeed: Miho needed Erich's complete trust in her and his complete ignorance of the plan.

Yet, she could tell immediately now that she had lost both.

"Was that all I was to you?" Erich spoke up, voice almost completely devoid of any feeling except for the barest hint of betrayal. There was too much of that feeling in him to fully conceal.

Turning towards her, he slowly stood up. The stinging sensation of betrayal was as plain as day on his face, and Miho had to blink back tears at the amount of hurt.

"Was I just some… _objective_ to achieve?" he asked, further clarifying his last question. "Or was I more of an asset? A tool? A _puppet?_ " he snarled out, "Meant to serve your will all while you lie to my face?"

She knew the one thing he hated the most was being controlled. That was why she didn't tell him anything earlier, because she knew he would feel betrayed beyond comprehension.

"Tell me," he began almost nonchalantly, slowly walking a circle around her. Without physically turning her body, she kept him in sight. "Are any of those friends of yours, _actually_ your friends? Or are they merely a means to an end for you? Because I can't tell the difference anymore."

Miho did her best to not break down at the venom-laced words. Having Erich speak to her in such a way was doing a whole lot of damage to her.

"What were you going to do once you won?" he asked next. "Were you just going to kill me? Make it look like an accident?" He cocked his head to the side. "Or maybe you would've wanted to use me as a plaything?" He came to a stop in front of her. "Or did mother dearest have another plan in the lineup for you? What would _that_ one have consisted of? Because you would've already gotten for her everything she desired by then: my family's school under her management as well as the fortune it made, and me at your _loyal_ service as your puppet. Or _husband,_ if you want the official term, but it makes no difference. You would've still had me as your fucking slave."

Miho looked down, eyes heavily misty. Yes, it was true that part of that plan for power that she would've ended up wedding him, but she would've wanted to marry him anyway, regardless of whatever plans her mother could concoct.

"What would've been her next plan?" he prompted, completely off-kilter in attitude now. When she didn't speak, he noticed and mocked her. "It's okay, you can tell me. What more could you lose in doing so?"

She really had nothing to lose anymore, and she had already had enough of concealing ugly truths. After a lengthy pause, she took a deep breath and said one word, "Heirs."

His fingers twitched. Both were surprised he managed to restrain himself from choking the life out of her right then.

"She likely would've wanted me to produce heirs and heiresses to both schools with you. Whether willingly…" she hesitated, ashamed she had even remotely agreed to the idea before, "… or by force."

"'By force?'" Erich let out a harsh, bitter chuckle. "I have no doubt in my mind you could." Wanting to bring up another point, he said, "Why _you,_ though? I thought if your mother wanted anything regarding family business, that she would use your sister. After all, she's her favorite. Is it because _you_ wanted to be the favorite?"

"It's because she wasn't suited to this kind of work," she answered honestly. "She's not the type to get close to people and get into relationships. Plus, it would've been too much load on her considering she's set to inherit our school. She wouldn't be able to handle the extra load all by herself."

"So that's why mother dearest wanted heirs out of _you_ instead. Divide and conquer." He pieced it together for himself, still reviled. "Well, there's a first time for everything. Even the unfavored have their moments in the spotlight."

Turning around, he slowly walked to the back of the room by the window, crossing his arms. "Or, maybe 'darkness' would be more appropriate since you've been working with her in the shadows," he added on.

Upon facing away, Miho adjusted her stance to allow her to quickly defend herself if need be, because she didn't believe this would end cleanly. She feared Erich would be too far gone for that.

She took a deep breath, and reasoned with him, "I never wanted to. Yes, I had promised her that I would marry you, _and_ have your children. But you're wrong about all my motivations. I didn't follow that plan for the promise of power. I only did it for two reasons: because I wanted you, and to appease Mother. You know how she is, so surely you can understand why I want her off my back. The only way I saw to do that was to cooperate with her and give her no reason to pay me any mind. When she first sent me that plan, I had no intention of following it in the long run, but I had to keep her from coming down my back. I had to make her believe I was still with her so she wouldn't interfere."

Erich's body was tense in indecision. He just didn't know what to believe. ' _No… she **wouldn't…**_ ' Part of him was still screaming that it was all a lie, that she was only saying that to keep him compliant and loyal. But another part of him recognized the honesty in her voice and how genuine she sounded. It was difficult to figure out which side of him was right.

He turned around to face her, as calm as he could be now. Yet, he still looked full of a mixed bag of hatred, anger, and betrayal. In a low voice, he pressed, "How long?"

That was the question Miho had wanted to avoid if possible. The answer, she knew, would completely alienate him and shatter what little trust he still held in her. It was bad enough he thought he would've been a puppet, as the one thing he despised over all else was being controlled.

"Do not _FUCK_ with me, Miho!" the blonde screamed at her, the tension within him at an all-time high. " _How long!?_ "

' _I'm sorry,_ ' Miho silently mourned for what she knew was coming. With a heart heavy in regret, she whispered, "Ten years."

She could practically _feel_ something snap between them. That was the last strand of faith he had in her, and now it was torn. She could see it as his blue eyes just stared blank for a second before he inclined his head down.

Ten. Fucking. Years. In other words, since the moment they met. She had been playing him for _that_ long. He was such a dummy for not seeing it sooner. He should've expected this out of her family years ago. It made perfect sense for Shiho to see an opportunity then and lunge for it. And Miho, spineless as she was to her, played the perfect little spy for her. He wanted to strangle the life out of her for those ten years of lies.

When he looked back up at her, she nearly shuddered in fear of his gaze. It was just _terrifying_ with how stormy it was now.

Without warning, he jumped across the room for her. She quickly recognized he wanted a fight, and instincts took over as she leaned way back, nearly touching the floor and letting him overshoot her.

Having flown right over her and missed, Erich flipped mid-air and pushed off from the door opposite with his legs, sending him flying back towards Miho. He was incredibly light-footed and agile in his fighting style, though he wasn't playing to all of its strengths presently. Rather than trying to evade attacks until his enemy tired out, like he would normally do, he was blinded by rage and going on the offensive.

Shooting back into a stance, she had turned only to find him heading for her again with no down time. Bracing and blocking the oncoming blow, she fell back from the force of bodies colliding, but even so, she also kicked out and swept his legs out from under him, making him collapse as well. She had a unique fighting style that relied more on fluidity, with the ability to smoothly turn defense into offense and turn her enemies' attacks against them.

She used her hands and, arching her back, smoothly tossed herself back up into a stand, then sprinted for the door while he recovered. But just before she reached it, he twisted onto his front and threw a knife at her. The blade embedded itself into the door, only just barely missing her hand reaching for the handle, and only because she hesitated for the slightest moment, unsure if she should continue the fight in the room or get out.

She started at it, looking back to him with a horrified expression. All she got in return was a glare of hate and bloodlust. He was further gone than she could've predicted if he was unconcerned with using a deadly weapon against her.

Quickly getting her wits back when she saw him get back up, she opened the door and ran out to the open-air hallway, yanking the blade from the door and taking it with her in the process.

She ran for the stairwell, but she knew he could run faster than her. Acting on instinct, she abruptly stopped at the top step, sensing he was about to launch himself at her back, and ducked, making him fly over her. She also turned his attack into her own attack by grabbing his arm as he flew over her and hurling him at the opposite wall of the stairwell.

His back impacted the wall and forced the breath out of him for a moment. As he recovered, it gave her enough time to get down the stairs to the ground, though he wasn't far behind, quickly in pursuit.

Miho drew the knife and turned around, stopping. Erich, wary of the blade, stayed out of its range and came to a halt, recognizing the threat for what it was.

"Please, Erich!" she pleaded with him again. "I never wanted to fulfill her wishes!"

"I don't care," he callously rejected her words. "You fucking used me."

He immediately went on the offensive again, front-flipping and aiming to kick her shoulders. Holding her hands in the places he targeted, she fell back, falling into the attack, and used the momentum of his strike to push his feet off and fling him into the air. She smoothly rolled backwards and up into a stand, deftly readjusting her hold on the knife and holding it ready, even though her hands were killing her now.

He followed through on her repulsion of him, backflipping in the air to land lightly on his feet. Not losing any energy, he charged her again. He threw a quick left-right-left combo, all hits landing, before getting onto her right side and hooking her right leg with his foot, breaking her stance and throwing her off balance. He deftly stole the blade from her right arm with his own right hand, swiftly bringing his left arm around her shoulders, and holding the blade to her neck.

Before he could bring the blade to bear, however, she pushed back. Since she was in his hold, that threw the both of them to the ground, her on top of him on his back. The impact loosened the hold enough to allow her to wriggle free, and she rolled off to her right, snatching the knife again from him.

However, he recovered extremely quickly, and came at her while she was still recovering herself. Her answer to him was to grab his arm and use his own momentum against him by flinging him away from her a full one hundred eighty degrees away, putting distance between them.

"Erich!" she tried again to get through to him. "Please, I don't want to fight you! I just made a mistake!"

"… So did I," he retorted, looking her dead in the eye as he said it.

It wasn't hard for her to see the real meaning of his words. He thought befriending her and getting so close to her was a mistake. That was what finally made her shed tears. Those words probably hurt Miho more than any physical blow Erich could've dealt her.

He threw a right punch, which she crouched under and evaded. He swiftly turned back and followed with a twisting kick, twisting his body through the air to use both legs in the attack. She jumped back to evade, but was able to smoothly retaliate with a sweeping kick to prevent him from throwing her off the offensive entirely, forcing him to duck.

He followed with a swift series of jabs – right, left, right – into her torso. The first two she took, stumbling, but the last she was prepared for. She grabbed his arm, twisted so her back was to him, and hurled him over her, using his own attack against him.

Upon hitting the ground, Erich's hand came up and grabbed Miho by the throat. With that grip, he began choking her, even as she was crouched above him, before eventually throwing her over him and sent her to the floor.

He got up, albeit his face twitched in pain as the bruising he endured started showing itself. He approached Miho, ready to make her pay for her sins.

Her breath would only come through because of adrenaline, as the grip he had on her was crushing enough to have left her gasping. There was most definitely a bruise around her neck now. But hearing Erich come up behind her, she waited until he got close enough, and then wrapped her legs around his waist and twisted. He was thrown to the ground, and let out a pained grunt as he hit the floor.

She quickly and smoothly turned and arranged herself so her legs held down his arms, and held the knife above him, point ready to plunge into his neck.

They both froze in that position, with Miho in the power position over Erich. Both were beaten up in their own right, with bruises littering the both of their bodies and the both of them breathing heavily from exertion.

Miho knew Erich was a challenge to fight. Having seen him in the past, she knew the only reason she was able to win was because he wasn't in his right mind. It didn't make beating him any easier, as he always fought at such a quick pace. But his natural tendency to be evasive and outlast his opponent fell away in favor of relentless offense. But a relentless offense just didn't suit him. He just couldn't maintain that level of strength for a long time.

Her distinct vibrant brown, almost amber, eyes, were filled with sorrow and were red from crying. Everything that had just happened was almost too much for her to fully process. She would never forget this day.

The blonde's gaze was flickering between her face and the cross hanging around her neck. The Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds – one of only twenty-seven – that used to be in his family before he gave it to her as a gift. He did it because he had trusted her implicitly and wanted to show said trust by giving her something so important to his family, because he saw her as family.

Now, though, he was far from considering her family anymore.

Looking back up, he spat at her, "That cross belonged to my family! You don't deserve to have it!"

He didn't even seem concerned that she had a knife to his throat, but at those words, she dropped her gaze to the blade in contemplation.

It pained her to admit it, but he was right. She _didn't_ deserve it. After all, she had kept such a huge secret from him even though he had complete trust in her, had considered her family. There was no way she was still worthy of having it if she was perfectly fine with working behind the scenes and subtly manipulating him to serve her will. The question of whether or not she actually _did_ manipulate him was irrelevant. Just the fact she had even _considered_ it was the problem.

Having no more fight in her, she withdrew the knife from his throat and took off the cross. Getting off him, she set it in his hand and closed his fingers over it with her own hand, relinquishing the historic award back to its rightful owner.

Standing up to her full height again, she left him with one last gaze full of regret. "I'm sorry," she breathed out before walking away, head hung. She knew he wouldn't accept her help after everything, so there was nothing more she could do for him, as much as she wanted to take care of him and clean up all his wounds and heal him, physically and mentally.

Erich stared at her as she left, still filled with a generic anger for her but also a hint of confusion. The honesty she had shown left him befuddled. Why would Miho show such honesty to him even after it was clear he no longer believed anything she said?

But then his bruises caught up with him as he hissed in pain. He decided, for the moment, to just lie there on the ground. Until enough of the pain went away at least.

There were less comfortable surfaces than concrete, he figured.

XXXXXXXXXX

After enough time, Erich was feeling better physically. Mentally, he was calmer, though still feeling the effects of betrayal and heartbreak.

He had practically disappeared to everybody, having gone off the grid into the forest that was utilized as the tank training grounds. He often went off on his own to think whenever he experienced something that shook him to the core. This was one of those cases.

"Hurts, does it not?" a highly refined, silky smooth Norse-like voice snapped him from his thoughts.

Whipping to face the voice, he saw a tall man dressed in some complex black leathers with green accenting leaning against a tree with arms crossed. Other distinct traits of his included midnight black hair and piercing emerald green eyes. Immediately he felt a certain unease about him.

"Being lied to," the man clarified.

Quirking an eyebrow, Erich carefully thought on whether or not this was someone he should stick around and talk with. "… Who are you?"

"A traveler who is wary to your plight." Noticing the skepticism on the blonde's face, he smirked in amusement. "You need a name, do you not? Fine. You can call me Loki."

"How do you even know about my 'plight?'" Erich asked, making finger quotes.

"Well, I have quite a lot of experience in the arena of lies," Loki unveiled, waving a hand around nonchalantly. "I have always been told I was good at telling them."

Rolling his eyes away, the blonde dismissively retorted, "Yeah, I'm not willing to listen to any more lies. I've heard enough of them today."

"I was not finished," Loki said, giving a pointed look to him. "It may not look it, but I have gone through the same ordeal you are going through: finding out your entire life was a lie, that you were meant to be nothing more than a tool."

Now fully facing him, Erich was at least intrigued. He was still wary of Loki – strange name, though he guessed maybe his parents held the Norse gods in revere – as he gave off the aura of a snake, but now he was at least willing to hear him out with how sincere the man sounded. "And?" he prompted with a raised eyebrow.

"You feel rage coursing through your veins, do you not? Unrestrainable hatred?" Loki asked.

The blonde thought for a while before answering, "Not as much as before, but it's still there."

"Of course it is," the Norseman nodded, having fully expected that answer. "Such betrayal is not easily forgotten. It can take years to get over it. But that is an important first step, to get the initial rage out of your system. It comes down to what you do after. That will decide if you sink or swim."

"Well, what did _you_ do after?" Erich turned it around on him.

"You do not want to know," Loki told him, looking dead serious about not wanting to talk about his own dealings.

"Well then give me some good advice if your experience is so bad," the blonde snarked.

"Easy. Wait."

Erich blinked. "… That's it?"

"What, were you expecting some long-winded speech about making up and mending differences?" The Norseman chuckled. "Hahaha, no. I know that would never work at this stage, nor am I one to advocate such methods." He then returned to a serious attitude. "But I was serious about waiting. I know you would never consider resolving anything while the wounds are still so fresh. The only thing I can suggest is to not do anything drastic and to keep your options open. You never know when you may need her help again."

"Ha! You think I would ever ask her for help again?" Erich spat back. "Not over my dead body!"

"Keep thinking like that, and 'over your dead body' could become your reality," Loki sharply rebutted. "And did you not hear me earlier? I _know_ you would never consider it now. But later when you have had time to cool off and think, I guarantee you the idea will sound much better than it does now."

It all seemed sound to the blonde, though he just couldn't get that nagging feeling out of his head that there was more to this Loki than he was showing. "Why the devil should I trust you?"

He smiled, almost as if in glee at the idea. "That is just it. You _cannot_ trust me. Nor should you." Fixing him with a hard stare, he continued, "For all my word is worth, it does not change the fact that I have experienced this as well. And you can trust me when I say that any kind of long-winded plan of vengeance you may be concocting will not be worth the end result of inevitable failure."

"'Inevitable failure-' maybe for _you_ but I know _I_ would succeed!" Erich shot back, offended that Loki knew what he was thinking and still said no to him. No matter whether he understood him or not, he had no right to predict his future like that.

"No, you will not," the snake-tongue repeated with complete confidence. "If you let vengeance consume you, then you are guaranteed to land yourself in a world of hurt ending with a prison cell with your name on it. If that is the path you wish to follow, then by all means, I will not stop you. But I suggest you think deeply on it." He tapped his own head with a finger. "If you rush head-first into something without a plan, then you are most definitely guaranteed to fail in whatever it is you are attempting. It is simple logic."

Erich growled and rushed at him, wanting to roll his head for his 'logical reasoning.' Loki saw it coming, however, and deftly side-stepped him before pushing against his back and guiding him to slam into the tree he was leaning against.

The blonde felt like a truck had hit him when he ran into the tree. He fell onto his bum, rubbing his head where it had impacted. Looking around, he found Loki was no longer around. Every direction he looked, he saw nothing but more forest. It was as if he just vanished into thin air.

He huffed, pissed. "I hate him," he muttered.

Now alone in the forest, he was left to his own wildly-coursing mind. Though he still held an indescribable hatred towards Miho, he couldn't help but think on Loki's words of idiocy, if only to find a way to disprove the logic in them.

But, looking up and noticing how dark it was getting, as well as remembering how exhausted he was from the beating he'd taken, he sighed and decided to find someplace to sleep. He'd think on the Norseman's words later.

XXXXXXXXXX

" _Listen to the wind blow, down comes the night_  
 _Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies_  
 _Break the silence, damn the dark, damn the light_ "

Miho had gone back to her dorm – it seemed as if it would be just hers from now on – and just had no energy to do anything else. Her fight with Erich had left her hollow and utterly exhausted, as well as bruised. Even though she technically won the physical fight, when taking every other factor into consideration, it felt more like a pyrrhic victory. She may have won, but it came at the cost of their decade-long friendship.

It was nearing nightfall, and there was a noisy wind blowing through the outside hallway, but she wasn't even close to falling asleep. She may have been exhausted, but she just couldn't sleep, which was why she was lying in bed facing the ceiling, earbuds from her phone in her ears and listening to whatever random song came next. This one happened to be 'The Chain' by Fleetwood Mac, an almost depressingly ironic song for her situation.

She couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened. She felt almost exactly like the lyrics said: by running in the shadows with her harboring this huge secret from her friend, plotting against his family, she felt like he now was totally uncaring of what happened with her. Damn her love and her lies, in other words. When the silence surrounding her mother's plans was finally broken, her thoughts on said plans were made irrelevant. Dark or light, it didn't matter what end she swayed towards, because the only way that conflict could've possibly ended was in disaster.

" _And if you don't love me now_  
 _You will never love me again_  
 _I can still hear you saying_  
 _You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)_ "

Perhaps Miho's greatest potential fear was losing Erich's undying love and care. But now that she had, her new greatest fear was that she would never get it back no matter what she did. She had utterly shattered and squandered the trust he had placed in her, had given him no reason to trust her.

" _And if you don't love me now (If you don't love me now)_  
 _You will never love me again_  
 _I can still hear you saying_  
 _You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)_ "

It was utterly depressing and tragic because she remembered many times over the years when their friendship was still strong, that he would always say he was always there for her. Many times, he had promised that he would never break the chain between them. And yet, now it _was_ broken. And it was all her fault.

" _And if you don't love me now (If you don't love me now)_  
 _You will never love me again_  
 _I can still hear you saying_  
 _You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)_ "

She sighed brokenly. Her eyes were still reddened, from both earlier when they fought and more recently when she got to her dorm.

She remembered it like it was yesterday. When she had first met him, she had recalled seeing a little glint in the eyes of her mother. At the time, she didn't understand why, but as she grew she came to understand what she was doing. Her mother was already making plans even way back then.

What she hated most about herself was that she wasn't entirely repulsed by the thought. To her, that was just who her mother was: a planner, someone who remained five steps ahead. She had never seen the problem in that, because that was her mother's modus operandi. Even as cut-off as she seemed in attitude, her mother had still taught her everything she knew. It was hard to think of her as being wrong, even though she technically was.

She knew her mother. She wasn't power-hungry, even if it seemed that way. She had honest and benevolent intentions when making that plan. She didn't want to hurt the Hartmanns, but rather help them in the long run. The way she saw it was that, to help them, she had to have a hand in their workings, because she believed her having the reins would lead to prosperity. She was convinced the Nishizumi way of thinking was inherently superior, and that if everyone followed her way, then the world would be better off.

Perhaps, Miho figured, the crux of what made her mother a problem was that her line of thinking was that the end justified the means. She had no issues with doing anything immoral if it allowed her to achieve her goals.

But, perhaps now, Miho did. It had cost her so much more than having to scrap a plan.

So, with some regret for having to break away from her, she decided to send her mother a message. ' _Asset has discovered plan and rebelled with no hope of correction. I've been completely compromised. No alternatives are feasible, asset is too unstable. Delete this message._ '

She knew her mother would understand her hidden meaning in her message: that she just couldn't serve her anymore. The line to delete the message would cement the fact that she was breaking their chain. Its significance was implied since the line had never been used in the past.

She heard the door open, and with a start, looked up. Her heart leaped in her throat.

She observed Erich walk in, pulling the door shut behind him. He seemed almost weary with how bloodshot his eyes were. He was far from the person who walked out of the dorm that morning. But, then again, neither was she. Both were bruised and battered and torn apart.

He walked across the room and collapsed forward onto the couch in the room, immediately falling asleep. He never spared her any form of acknowledgment, having convinced himself he only came here because there was nowhere else to go.

But just the fact that he came back _at all,_ was enough to make Miho turn over on her bed and silently cry again, only this time she was filled with hope. She knew things between them may never be as they once were. Too much had happened to completely forget. But him coming back gave her hope that maybe they could rebuild. Maybe they would never become lovers again, but that had never been the highlight of their relationship to her. To her, they weren't just that. They were also best friends, and she treasured that aspect of their relationship the most.

They had a lot to work out, and she didn't get her hopes too high up. She knew there was a very real possibility that they'd never see eye-to-eye again. But with him coming back, she had to at least try.

She knew their relationship was a mere shadow of its former self, but the important part to Miho was that the chain between them had still held. They had kept together even if in only the basest way. As the final verse came up, she mouthed along to it, treating them almost as a prayer.

" _Chai-ai-ain keep us together! (Running in the shadow!)_  
 _Chai-ai-ain keep us together! (Running in the shadow!)_  
 _Chai-ai-ain keep us together! (Running in the shadow!)_  
 _Chai-ai-ain keep us together! (Running in the shadow!)_  
 _Chai-ai-ain keep us together! (Running in the shadow!)_  
 _Chai-ai-ain keep us together! (Running in the shadow!)_ "

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 _ **Part of**_ **Projekt Jägermeistern.**

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 _ **The author does not claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to**_ **Ac** **tas.** _ **The music used belongs to**_ **Fleetwood Mac.** _ **Any other references made belong to their respective owners.**_

 _ **Credit goes to**_ **William Lamb _for indirectly inspiring the idea to break Erich and Miho apart._**

 _ **Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.**_


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